Sunday, March 10, 2013

2013 Something Sunday 10: Owl Coin Purse Tutorial

I don't know if owls are still "in" or if they ever were, or how the heck a specific animal can even be "in" but I made an owl coin purse, and I wanted to show you how to make it too!



First you need to pick out your fabric. I like to use one fabric for the body, one fabric for the wings, a solid colour for the eyes, plus black and while for the eye details. (side note: after making many of these, I tend to like the ones where I use only solid colours best, but I've added a picture of all the different ones I've made at the end of this post, so you can decide what you like best!)

Once you have all your fabric picked out, it's time to start cutting it! If you want to print out my simple pattern (really simple, as in, hand drawn) then you can click here to get the PDF. This will give you an idea of the size and shape of the owl parts, but it doesn't have to be exactly the same as the pattern, you can curve the bottom more or less if you want to, or change the size of the beak to be larger or smaller (you get the idea!). If you don't feel like getting your printer all set up to print the pattern the measurements/explanation for cutting the fabric is below.

I would advise reading through all of the cutting instructions before you start cutting!

Cut out:
- 1 square 5'' X 5'' (with the body fabric)
- 2 large circles (with the eye fabric)
- 2 medium circles (in white)
- 2 small circles (in black, or coresponding dark colour)
- 1 triangle for the beak
- 2 oval(ish) shapes for the wings



With the one 5X5 square that you have cut out, fold it in half and then cut from the folded center to the open edge going up, as seen in the image below (left). Then once you have a shape you are happy with use the piece you have just cut as a template to cut out three more pieces the same shape. 1 more with your outer fabric, and 2 with your lining fabric. (I recommend cutting a curve shape that is closer the image on the left as opposed to the smaller curve in the picture on the right)

Now you have to cut out the eyes, beak and wings! Cut the largest circle first (in any size that you think looks good) and then cut the medium and small ones after based on the size of the large circles. To cut the circles I like to keep my scissors fairly still and move the fabric around in a circle shape. The image below is what your fabric will look like after you've cut out the circles using this method.

Now that you have all your pieces cut out, it's time to get pinning and sewing. Start by getting one of the outer body pieces, the largest circles, the wings, the beak and some pins. Arrange the eyes, beak, and wings into a places that looks appealing to you and then pin them down.

 Now, pick out matching thread to each of the pieces you have pinned down. (you will need matching thread for the white and black parts of the eyes as well).

Set up your sewing machine to do a zig-zag stitch; below you can see the settings I used. I had a length of 1 and width of 3. I like the look of these, but you can easily make the stitching less obvious by changing the length to 2, and the width to 2. 

Once you're all set up, it's finally time to sew! I like to keep the pins in until about half of the eye/beak/wing is sewn down, and then I take it out to avoid sewing over the pins. Remember to change the colour of the thread for each piece that you sew. (I kept white bobbin thread in for all the pieces because I'm lazy, but if you want the thread to be really hard to notice, I would change your bobin thread for each piece as well).


When sewing down the wings you only have to sew down the top seam because the bottom will be closed when you turn it into a coin purse. 

After you're done the eye color, you can add the white eye detail, and then the black eye detail. I find it can be a bit tricky to get the small black eye detail sewn down, but as long as you go slowly it should work out just fine!



And now you have your cute little owl ready to be turned into a coin purse!

To turn it into a coin purse follow my zippered case tutorial found here, and just ignore the dimensions in the "what you need" section, and use your owl and the 3 other pieces left. And there you go! A cute little owl case!




If you do happen to make a little owl from this tutorial, please leave a comment and let me know how it went! :) Have fun!

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To find out what the 'Something' project is all about click here
To see the previous 'Something's' click here

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