Owl Beanbags

I wanted to have something in my reading center for the kids to sit on. I had a big beanbag in my class that the kids poked a hole in last year. It was one of the vinyl ones and the duct tape kept getting pealed off. I put it in a trash bag to contain the beans and put it on my back porch. Then I had the idea to make my own bean bags to fit my theme. I looked at all of the owl beanbags on Amazon...and didn't like any of them.

I searched the web for a pattern for an owl stuffed animal. I found it and make it in the suggested scale. Then I enlarged the scale of the pattern free-hand on the material and this is what I did. 

BODY: 

I found this soft brown material at Wal-mart. It was only $2.50 a yard. You will need to cut two owl bodies out of the material, one is the front and one is the back.

The body of the owl. (placed on the fold and cut 2)

WINGS:
The pattern had a wing that was more like a triangle but I did not like the way it stuck out so I drew a wing that looked more like a tear-drop. I liked the way this one turned out much better. You will have to cut two out of the body material and two out of the belly color. Sew the wings right side together leaving the flat side un-sewn. Turn them inside out and sew around the outside edge of both wings.

the wing (cut 2 from belly color and 2 from body color)

BELLY: 
To make the belly, I placed the material on top of the body of the owl. I cut the rounded  bottom of the owl and them made the top match the bottom. You could also cut out a circle and put it in the middle. When placing it on the front of the owl, I pined it close together to keep the fabric from slipping. I first sewed it together with a zig-zag stitch. Then I sewed it again with a zig-zag stitch that was really close together. I was going to leave it that way and then thought that I wanted to add some more color to it. I decided to add pops of color using rick-rack. I decided that I would use purple, pink, and blue. I sewed it on the edge of the belly and around the eyes.

the belly(cut 1)

EYES:
To make the eyes I took a circle and traced around it. Then I placed the same circle and slightly overlapped it and traced around it a second time. Then I cut it out of white felt.

two circles slightly overlapped

the whites of the eye (cut 1)

FEET: 
I made the feet out of brown felt. I cut four pieces and then sewed two of them together using a zig-zag stitch.

the foot (cut 4)

BEAK:
I cut two of the beak pieces out of a yellow/orange piece of fabric. I used two because the fabric was thin, if you use felt or a thicker material you would only need one.

the beak (cut 2)

I sewed the eyes, beak and belly of the front of the owl. Then I set the wings and feet in place. Make sure that they are folded to be inside of the owl. Then I placed the back of the owl (right-sides together) and pinned it all together. I left about five inches at the top open (un-sewn) so that I can turn it inside out and then stuff the owl. You can use polly-fill or beanbag beans to fill the owl.

the front of the owl with eyes, beak, and belly

pin down the eyes, beak, and belly and sew around it

sewn front

The finished owl...well minus the eyes that I have to find. I want to have black or brown buttons that are about 2-3inches. I will hand sew them on when I find them.

finished owl (except for the eyes) 

my pink owl (I am going to sew big black buttons for the eyes. I just have to find the right ones)