Chenille Owl Tutorial

Here's my next sewing tutorial – a Chenille Owl Pillow. He's about 10" tall and uses the same faux chenille technique shown earlier. I think he would look great in any child's bedroom, plus his texture makes him pretty cuddly to hold.

Supplies needed: 6 Fat Quarters, two 1.5" buttons, and polyester fiberfill (not pictured). The photo above shows the scraps of my fabrics that all came from JoAnns. I chose the main color first, then the solid brown background, and four variations in between. Keep in mind that the fabric chosen for the top layer is going to be the one that is seen the most. Fabric cost: $9. Buttons: $6 (I fell for the expensive ones!)

Step 1. Open all the fabrics, press and stack together. The order I used for my owl was dark brown on the bottom, then the four middle colors, and the main fabric on top. Measure and mark the fabric to make an 18" square and cut.

Step 2. Draw a line with chalk from one corner to the opposite. I used the width of my ruler to continue making parallel lines, which are all about 1.25" apart.

Step 3. Machine stitch over all the traced lines. Stitch another set of lines between the first ones as shown by the white dotted lines in the photo above.

Step 4. Your square is now going to be a bit irregular from all the sewing. Clean up the edges by drawing and cutting new clean lines very close to the edge. My square measured 17.5" x 17.5" when I was done. Using a ruler, measure off two 7" triangles as shown in the photo above. Cut right on a stitch line. Connect the bottom corners of the large shape and cut as shown.

Step 5. Fold the large shape in half and stitch together using a 1/4" seam on the edge. Trim the seam to 1/8".

Step 6. (Not shown) Using a scissors, cut carefully through the center of each stitched row, but only cutting through the top five layers. The bottom layer should be left intact. (See Chenille Bag tutorial for a photo of this step). When all the rows are cut, turn the tube inside out. Center the middle seam as shown and make a 1/4" seam at the bottom.

Step 7. Still working from the inside, fold the corners as shown and stitch across making an approximately 2.5" long seam. Stitch back and forth at the ends to secure and keep from the seam from opening up.

Step 8. Turn pillow right side out and wash in hot machine wash and dry in a hot dryer. This will make all the cut edges fray and fold up like a chenille fabric.

Step 9. Fill the pillow with polyester fiberfill.

Step 10. Fold over the top triangle and pin together, with the seam on the outside. With a long needle and thread, hand stitch in place from one corner to the other.

Step 11. Hand stitch two large eyes in place.

Step 12. Cut a small triangle out of the lightest colored fabric and hand stitch in place to look like a beak. Congratulations, you made your own owl pillow!