Made It! What A Hoot - Owl Purse

I wanted to make my sister something special for Christmas. I found some fabulous fabric... green corduroy with silver sparkles, she loves green so I knew that would be perfect. Then she pinned a cute owl bag to her pinterest board and I started looking for something similar that I could actually make.

That's when I found The Phoebe Bag. It looked like an owl to me. David helped me draw out the owl and I went to work. 8 hours later and you have the tutorial! Caden loved it, so I've decided to make one for myself.

Since the Artsy-Crafty Babe did such an excellent job of her pattern and the tutorial I'm not going to tell you everything, just the changes I made and will make in future owl purses.


Materials you'll need: 
1/2 yard for exterior

1/2 yard for lining

1/2 yard fusible fleece

1/4 yard Fusible Web (Under Wonder #807)

magnetic snap

felt or material for eyes and beak

1/8-1/4 yard each or 2 fat quarters of contrasting material for wings and tummy

First, I cut out the pattern, taped it together and started sketching the eyes, beak, wings and tummy. We decided owls need to have big eyes. 

Then, I laid out the front of the bag and started adding the pieces. 

I wanted the wings and tummy to have a clean edge so I sewed them under about a 1/4 inch on the edges. Fused them in place, zig-zagging around the open edges to give it some design and to make sure it holds in place.

I fused the eyes and beak into place, zig-zagging around the whites of the eyes and stitched the beak, I also added a sparkle in the black part of the eye (my favorite part!).

I added an extra pocket to the bag. I also sewed one of the pockets in half to make two small pockets on one side. Next time I will make the pockets deeper and sew down the middle of both pockets to make four large pockets. My bags never have enough pockets... 

A Few Tips: 

• I made the shoulder strap a few inches longer, because I liked the way it hung at that length. When I make mine I'm going to make the straps wider and longer, more of a messenger bag style.

• Putting in the magnetic snap was so easy I forgot to take pictures! And the darts weren't as difficult as I thought they might be.

• I used fusible fleece on the exterior body pieces to make the bag really sturdy.

Now you can make a cute owl purse of your own. If you make one please email me pictures or add a link in the comments. I'd love to see your creations! 

Photo Credit: Tammy Larsen
Digital Scrapbook: Smilebox
Pattern and Complete Tutorial: www.rebekalambert.com

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