Cute Free Owl Embroidery Pattern

It's embroidery time again! Today I'm sharing the pattern for sewing this fabulous little owl:

This pattern is the second in a new series I've started where I'm reworking some of my old designs from my free tutorial archive and turning them into embroidery patterns.

This owl was orginally a tutorial for sewing a felt plushie, which I later adapted to show you how to make felt owl ornaments... and now you can embroider an owl, too! Hurrah!

 

Here are three of the designs I've stitched so far:

I shared the folk flowers embroidery pattern last month, and next month you'll get to stitch that rainbow LUCKY PANTS design (so much fun).

You'll find the owl embroidery pattern at the bottom of this post.

I stitched my owl mostly with backstitch, using three strands from six-stranded embroidery thread (floss). I also added single stitches for the very short lines and two French knots for the pupils.

I used a kitsch colour combo of purple, pink, turquoise, and minty green but there are so many colours that this owl would look spectacular in! You could even choose a realistic palette of browns if you prefer your owls less cartoony :)

I stitched my owl on white fabric to make the colours really pop, and framed it in a 5 inch embroidery hoop.

I actually started out sewing the owl on some pale brown felt. The colours looked okay but didn't stand out brilliantly and it looked rubbish when I took photos! It was a faff having to start again, but totally worth it as I'm really pleased with the finished version.

As for that owl I embroidered on felt? I didn't let it go to waste! I cut it out carefully, added a matching backing piece of felt and a ribbon loop and now have a little embroidered owl ornament.

Luckily it looks much cuter in real life than in the photos! Haha. (Note to self: check how your chosen materials look when photographed together BEFORE you start sewing with them).


This pattern is for non commercial use only: you can use it to stitch as many owls as you want for yourself or as gifts, but please don't make any for sale. You may borrow a couple of photos if you want to blog about this project, but remember to credit me and link back to this page on my blog, and do not reproduce my entire  post or share my pattern on your site. Thanks!

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Click here to open the pattern in a new window, make sure you're viewing it full size then print it at 100%.