How to Make a Plush Owl with Fairfield

 Hi everyone!
I love to sew and I love anything to do with owls, so when I received a very special fun filled box from Fairfield, celebrating their 80th Birthday, I knew just what I wanted to make! -

a Owl of course!

I have even created a free printable pattern for you to follow along and make your own plush owl!

Here we go.....

Here is what you need to make a this plush owl:

• Poly-fil® from Fairfield World
• Pewter Luxe-Cuddle fabric
• Pink fabric of choice
• Yellow and Fushia Felt
• Sulky Poly Star Thread
• Sulky Metallic Gold Thread
• Assorted buttons
• Pinking shears Sewing machine
• Sewing needle

Instructions:

• Download and print the following patterns- 
  Plush Owl Body - Top half & Bottom half 
  - I made the patterns to fit a standard 8 ½" x 11" piece of paper,
  so make sure you select 'fit to printable area' when printing the pattern. 
• You'll need to print 1 pattern that has the eyes, beak and feathers.
  Then 2 of the other pattern with the crown. 
• Lay down the 1st pattern onto the 2nd pattern as shown below and secure with tape.

• For the owl body, you'll need to trace and cut 1 piece from the Luxe fabric and 1 piece from the other fabric.

• Since the Luxe fabric is furry, place it face down and stitch all the way around, ¼" in.
  This will help keep the stray 'fluff' to minimum as you sew. 

 

• Place the 2 fabric together and stitch a  ¼" allowance all the way around.
   Leave a 2" opening at the bottom. 

• The Poly-fil® will come with a stuffing tool, use this to push out the corners when you turn the body inside out. 

Using the pinking shears, trace and cut the following:

• 2 eyes from the yellow felt
• 1 beak from the yellow felt
• 4 feathers from the fushia felt
• 4 (slightly smaller) feathers from the Luxe fabric.

• Use a zig zag and straight stitch to attach the Luxe fabric onto the felt.
  Alternate between the Poly Star and metallic threads.
   (Take time to clean any 'fluff' out of the machine as you sew)

• Use the Poly Star thread to create a starburst design on the felt eyes. 

• Hand stitch the buttons onto the felt circles. 

• Use your sewing machine to attach the owl beak felt piece to the top of the owl body.
  
• Flip over and stitch a line across. (see pattern for reference.)

• Start pushing in some Poly-fil® in the opening of the owl body, pushing up to the stitched line and towards the corners. Use the stuffing tool as needed. 
• Hand stitch the opening closed. 

• Fold over the owls head at the stitched line and hand stitch the beak to the body. 
• Attach the eyes in the same manner.

• Next, hand stitch 2 wings to each side of the owl body.

For the crown:

Use the provided pattern to trace and cut from the the yellow and fushia felt. 

Stitch the two together using your favorite threads. 

Add a couple of buttons or other sparkly embellishments. 

Make it fabulous!

I hope you liked my project and if you do make a owl or two on your own,
please let me know, I'd love to see it!

See more Fairfield creations here!

Disclosure: I received compensation and/or products in exchange for my crafting services. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the my own.

Boho Tassel Tote and Rose Headband

Hi Everyone! 

Today I am showing a couple of ideas of what you can do with product from Expo International! 

This is what was sent to me...don't you just love the roses and colorful tassels?

(At the end of this post you will find details on how you can win yummy swag like this to play with.)

I used the tassel fringe to complete a boho gypsy tote that I've been working on for a while. 

I never finished it because  it always seemed to missing 'something'....

 So I sewed the tassel fringe all around the bottom of the tote. Perfect!

 I love how the tassels move when I walk. Happy happy colors!

For the headband, I deconstructed the rose applique and stitched it onto a old stretchy headband.

 I used a sewing machine to add some elastic trim.

 I saved the remaining rose leaves to cover up exposed areas of the headband base.

 Now I have a beautiful headband that I love wearing!
Those roses are just too beautiful, don't you agree? Look at the embroidered detail!

Thanks for coming by!

Now please visit the rest of the designers (below) for more Expo International inspiration!

When you are done "hopping", visit the Designer Crafts Challenge blog and leave a comment, letting us know which were your favorite creations. 

You will be then entered in to Win 

a Expo International treasure box filled will trims, tassels, appliques...oh my!

Good luck!

Betz Golden

Nadine Carlier

Trish Cortez

Yolie Burke

Michelle Frae Cummings (You are here)

Susie Madden Bentz

Erin Reed

Steph Ackerman

Anita Scroggins

Sue Eldred

Maria Chuy Soto

Candy Rosenberg

Lorrie McCullers

Tammy Santana
Beth Watson

Julie McGuffee

How to make Blooming Cactus's with Kunin Felt

Welcome to the Kunin^®  Felt blog hop!
I, along with fellow designer friends have been asked to share with you projects you can make with Kunin^® felt.

(A little bit about Kunin® felt- Made in the U.S.A. This perfect all-around craft fabric comes in a wide variety of colors. Made from Eco-fi,^® a high-quality fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled and BPA-free plastic bottles. Fade-resistant. Cuts cleanly with no fraying and can sew and glue easily.)
.

Now about my project, I love all things to do with succulents and cactus.
I especially love their vibrant blooms!  Here I have created "thorn-free" cacti you can handle easily and display all year.
Enjoy!

Supplies:

1. Kunin®  9" x 12" Classic Felt in Pirate Green, Neon Green, Cotton Candy Pink, Red and Yellow.
2. Burlap
3. Embroidery hoop
4. 3.50 MM Crochet hook
5. Scissors
6. Black marker
7. Needle and thread
8. Doll stuffing

You can buy Kunin Felt locally at Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's and Walmart.
See more locations near you and online here.

 Cut your felt length wise into 1/4" strips.

Place your burlap into your hoop and tighten until the burlap is taught. I used a 6" hoop, but you can use any size as long as the burlap is larger than the hoop.
 Draw your pattern with the marker. I generally don't label the colors but I did for you here. The lines in the greens section can help you in the beginning until you get the hang of it.

If you have ever done rug hooking, this is similar. Always start in the center of your project. Here we are starting with yellow. Push your hook through the burlap.

On the underside, hook a piece of felt and gently pull it through. Repeat until you have filled in the circle for the yellow felt.  If it's hard for you to grip the crochet hook, try wrapping the handle with a few rubber bands as I did.

After each strip of color or felt, trim off the excess carefully with your scissors.
Continue with rest of the colored felt. You can make your loops tight or long. If you mess up. just carefully pull it back through and start again.

The pattern for the sides of the cactus are shown above. When you are done, remove from the hoop and trim the burlap 1" from the project edge. Cut along the dotted lines to the center.

Turn your piece over and pinch the raw edges of the burlap together then sew shut. Do this all around.

Turn your piece inside out and stitch closed any burlap exposed areas.
Eyeball the size of the base of your cactus and cut from felt.
Fill cactus with stuffing and begin stitching base felt to the bottom, tucking in the excess burlap as you work.

Done!
Soft, vibrant, easy to handle blooming cacti!
 Display in a dish filled with rocks or crystals!
 Please visit the rest of the Kunin ® Felt projects and enter to win an assortment of both Classic felt and Premium felt valued at $75 to use to make your own projects here!

Art Quilt Fabric Elements Blog Hop

Recently a few designers including myself, received a "Mini Paper Quilt Kit" from artist Rebekah Meier.  She sent every one a kit from her Fabric Elements line!

As you can see, the kit comes with quite a lot but also list what additional supplies that are needed.
The instructions that came with the kit are easy to follow.
Here I will show you how I created my colorful Art Quilt!

Materials:

• Fabric Elements Kit
• Neon Craft Paint in yellow, orange and pink.
• Turquoise craft paint
• Bubble wrap
• Foam brush
• Strong double sided tape
• Turquoise marker.

1. Follow the instructions included with the kit.
2. When you are ready to add color, dab the yellow paint randomly onto your piece with the foam brush.

3.  Add some orange.

4.  Paint the bubble wrap with the pink paint.

5.  Press the painted bubble wrap onto your piece, lift off to reveal some fun!
6.  Repeat process until desired effect is achieved.

7.  Paint the included foam piece with the turquoise paint and do the same as you did with the bubble wrap.

8.  A little or a lot, its up to you.

9.  Dip the end of your foam brush handle into the yellow paint and stamp some bright 'pops' of color onto your piece.

10.  When the paint has dried, finish putting everything together. Use a sewing machine to stitch your art quilt as recommended by way of the kit sample, or use the double sided tape as I did. Accent with  vintage trim and add 'stitching' with the marker.

It's so vibrant and pretty as is...I may not add anything else!

See more creative idea's 

using the Fabric Elements line 

by Rebekah Meier- here and enter to win this gift pack!

Good Luck!