FREE Owl Puppet Pattern...and a giveaway

We're halfway through this week of Downton Abbey/1920's inspired sewing. Be sure to check out day 1 and day 2 to see the amazing and inspiring posts. There's more fun coming up later this week, and we'll wrap the series up on Monday.

Today, though, I'm sharing a FREE pattern and tutorial on how to make an adorable owl hand puppet. Why a puppet? Well, puppets would have been something kids in the 1920s would have played with. Later this week we'll talk about paper dolls as well as handmade baby dolls and accessories, but puppets would fit right in there as a vintage toy.

Here was the inspiration for the owl puppets:

Whenever we visit my in-laws they get out some fun, old toys for the kids to play with. The last time we were there, my mother-in-law found some puppets and stuffed animals made by her mother. The adorable puppets are in great shape and I particularly loved these owls! (there were other animals too) How special that my kids can play with toys handmade by their great-grandmother! She obviously had great taste in fabric and an eye for patterns that go together. They're SO cute!

I took these owls home with me and made a pattern out of them...to share with you!

This is the perfect project for using up fabric scraps and the puppets are so quick to whip up. You can download the pattern here and then get the tutorial below. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for today's giveaway!

Materials Needed:
Fabric Scraps
Pattern Pieces (download the printable pdf pattern here)
Matching Thread
Sewing Machine

- First, print the pattern, tape the two pages together and cut out your pattern pieces. Each pattern piece is marked with how many pieces need to be cut out of your fabric. Here are all the pieces you will have:

- Sew the eye pieces together. Start by sewing the pupil to the smallest oval, then sew those pieces onto the medium oval, and finally onto the largest eye pieces. You'll simply be top-stitching close to the edge of the fabric. Repeat these steps on the other eye.

- Attach the head piece to the right side of the main body fabric by stitching close to the edge all the way around. Repeat on the other body piece. Your pieces should look like this:

- Now attach the wings to both the front and back body pieces.

- Sew the eyes and beak onto the front body piece. Then sew the tail onto the back body.

- Finally sew the front and back body pieces together (with right sides together) using a 1/4" seam allowance and leaving the bottom of the puppet open.

- Trim the seam allowance in the ears and clip curves. Turn right side out. Hem the bottom if you'd like, and then top-stitch around the entire puppet to finish it.

Enjoy your new puppets!

Now for today's giveaway. Wouldn't it be fun to have some beautiful new fabric for making your puppets? The Downton Abbey collection by Andover Fabrics is full of gorgeous prints and would be great for quilts, clothing, or even puppets! Here are a few of my favorites from the collection:

One winner in today's giveaway will win a yard of fabric from the Downton Abbey collection. (open to US residents only)

A second winner will win the complete collection of CharmingDoodle pdf sewing patterns, including the new Knight Hoodie and The Ultimate Apron. (open worldwide)

Enter using the widget below. Good luck! And be sure to come back tomorrow for another fun giveaway and more 1920's fashion inspiration! If you're sewing along, use the hashtag #downtonsewing and I'll be featuring some of your projects next week!

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