Friendly Owl Bookshelf Pillow
Acuddly pillow featuring a friendly owl who would love to keep your books company on the shelf, and perhaps read a few of them when you are not looking. I used Lecien fabrics from the Whitewash collection by Meg Hawkey and the Vintage Art Store collection by Susan Gower.
by Jasonda Desmond of Dotty Logic Design Studio
Finished size: 8″ × 9″
• 9″ × 10″ piece of white fabric for pillow front
• 9″ × 10″ piece of print fabric for pillow back
• 9″ × 10″ piece of fusible interfacing, such as Shape-Flex (C&T Publishing)
• Embroidery floss:
Brown (COSMO #312)
Gold (COSMO #704)
Light gold (COSMO #702)
Gray (COSMO #368)
• Fiberfill
• 8 oz. of dried beans or rice
• Sandwich-size zip-top plastic bag
Use 3 strands of floss for all embroidery. The embroidery design is on page 35.
1. Fuse the 9″ × 10″ piece of fusible interfacing, following the manufacturer’s instructions, to the wrong side of the pillow front fabric to stabilize the fabric and prevent thread show-through.
2. Transfer the embroidery design onto the pillow front fabric (see Transferring the Printed Patterns, Patterns are available to print from http://tinyurl.com/10939-patterns).
3. Embroider the design.
Brown:
Straight stitch all the outlines.
Satin stitch the pupils of the eyes.
Gold and light gold:
Fill all the irises of the eyes and the buttons with satin stitch in gold. Satin stitch a few highlights in light gold.
Gray:
Satin stitch the eyebrows, beak, and claws.
Decorate the vest freehand with pinstripes (optional).
All seam allowances are ½″.
1. Place the embroidered pillow front and the print pillow back right sides together and pin.
2. Sew around the perimeter of the pillow, pivoting at the corners and leaving a 3″ opening at the base.
3. Turn the pillow right side out and stuff lightly with fiberfill.
4. Open the plastic bag and place it halfway inside the pillow.
5. Using a funnel, fill the bag with beans or rice, zip it closed, and position it at the base of the pillow.
6. Hand sew the opening closed.
