http://www.craftpassion.com/2014/02/how-to-sew-sock-owl.html/2

How To Sew Sock Owl

How To Sew Sock Owl
Difficulty: Intermediate / Avid Beginner
Finished size: approximately 5 1/2″ (W) x 4 1/2″ (H)

Materials:
Make: 1
1. Sock (crew length), 1 pair or you could substitute 1 with plain white sock for bean pack
2. White felt (for the white of the eye)
3. Orange felt or orange sock scrap (for the beak)
4. Safety eye 1/2″ [13mm], black, 2; or button; or felt
5. Poly-fill stuffing material
6. Stuffing beans or silica beads (for bean pack)
7. Sewing threads (matching colors)

Tools:
1. Sewing machine (optional, you can hand-sew without machine)
2. Sewing needle (prefer long, about 2″) and pins
3. Erasable fabric marker
4. Scissors
5. Blunt point tweezers

Seam Allowance: approx. 1/8 – 1/4″ (thinner sock material need to have bigger seam allowance as the loose knit can be ripped off easily.)

Note: You may omit the bean pack if you are making the sock owl as hanging ornaments.
In order to make different sizes of sock owls, you may use different sizes of socks, ie, baby socks, toddler sock,, ladies sock etc….
Since the sock is stretched after stuffed, thick sock yields better quality than thin sock.

Prepare the materials and tools needed as shown in the list above.
Cut the foot part of a colored sock as shown in the picture for the owl.
Cut about 4″ from the toe on another side of the sock or use a plain white sock. This is for silica beads bean pack.
Cut 2 pieces of white felt into 1″ circle for the white of eye.
Cut 1 piece of orange felt or sock into a asymmetrical diamond shape for the beak, as shown in the picture.
1.) Sew a running stitch around the raw edge of the silica beads bean pack sock.
2.) Fill with silica beads or rice or another similar materials.
3.) Fill 2/3 and pull the thread to close the opening, knot.
4.) Make a few stitches between the centers (top and bottom) of the bean pack. Pull thread and knot. Cut thread.
This is how the flat round bean pack looks like.
1.) Stuff the 1/2 of the colored sock with poly-fill, this is the head of the sock owl.
2.) Cover the bean pack with some poly-fill and stuff, this is the body of the sock owl. Make sure the bean pack is at the center bottom of the base so that the sock owl can sit properly.
3.) Sew running stitches around the raw edge.
4.) Pull thread to close the opening. Push the raw edges into the sock and pull to tighten up the opening. Knot. If you can still see a small hole, sew a round of running stitch again near to the hole, pull and knot to close the gap.
The basic shape of the sock owl. You will notice 2 distinct bumps on top and bottom respectively. Use your hand to shape poly-fill so that the shape is symmetrical and smooth.
Draw out the eye brows and ears stitching lines on the sock as shown in the picture. The lines are symmetrical on both front and back, left and right.
This pattern will give a thicker and fuller eye brows and ears. If you want a thinner shape, reduce the distance between the top and bottom line by bringing the bottom line closer to the upper line.
1.) The top view of the stitching line drawing.
2.) Sew ladder stitches between this 2 lines. Tip: When you make the second stitch up to the upper line, remember to always pass your needle through the thread near the knot, this is to catch the knot so that it won’t accidentally pull out from the sock. Always do this when you sew.
3.) Pull the thread to bring the knot into the sock and continue sewing. Don’t pull the thread until you have finished sewing all the ladder stitches on one of the brow.
4.) Now, pull the thread in stages starting at a few stitches from the beginning point, pull to make the eye brows to bump up and ears to form. Pull gently but firmly till the end, don’t break the thread. Knot, cut the thread and hide the knot into the sock.
This is how the eye brows connecting to the ears of the sock owl looks.
1.) Position the white felt on the owl’s face. Pin and sew around.
2.) Position and orange beak between the white felt, pin.
3.) Sew the orange beak with slip stitch while turning the raw edges into the beak. If you find this too challenging, you can try felt but felt won’t give great bump shape for the beak.
4.) Stuff some poly-fill into the beak, use a pair of blunt tweezers to push the poly-fill in. Continue to sew to close the gap.
This is how the face of the owl looks like with the eye and the beak being sewed.
Position the black button within the white felt eye and sew it with a few secured stitches. In order to make the eyes “sink” into the white of the eye, bring the needle to the back of the owl….
Insert the needle back to the same place where it came out and bring the needle out to the button eye again. Pull to tighten the eye button and sink into the sock. Knot.
Repeat the same to the next eye and make sure they are sinking at the same level.
This is how the eyes looks like. Different position of the eyes will give different character look of the owl, for example – crossed-eye look.
1.) Turn the lower leg part of the sock to the wrong side. Pin. Draw 2 semi circles ont eh sock with pen.
2.) Either hand-sew or machine-sew the curve side of the semi circles. Cut them out and slit an opening on the folded edge of the sock.
3.) Turn right side out and stuff with poly-fill. Turn the raw edges in and slip stitch to close the opening.
4.) Position the wings with the wing slant down towards the back of the body. Pin and slip stitch around to sew them onto the owl’s body.
The completed sock owl. Did you note that the eye positions has changed slightly? The owl has turned from the crooked-eye look to a more serious look with a straighter eye.
Use a baby sock to make the chick of the sock owl with the same method, resize the white felt and orange sock for eye and beak respectively to smaller size to coordinate with the size of the chick. Use smaller buttons for the black of the eyes too.
Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! Happy “owling”!!!