NEW PATTERN! The Patchwork Owl Family

The original 2007 Owl Pattern

It's not exactly a new pattern, but it may as well be... The re-release of my very popular Patchwork Owl Family sewing pattern happened a few months ago and I'm still very excited about it!  What is this pattern, you ask?  Why have you re-released it?  What's the big deal about a bunch of stuffed owls, anyway? 

Back in 2007, when I was selling fabric at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, I realized that a lot of the customers were asking for stuffed toy patterns but there weren't a lot of choices in the store.  I assembled my experience and skills and designed a pattern that would reflect my love of owls and hopefully would appeal to the varied customer base at the fabric store.  I also tried to make the owls something that a customer could easily make with common fabrics - quilting cotton and felt.  After a few weeks of rigorous testing, writing, and illustrating, I released the original 101 Owl Family Pattern, which was something of a local overnight success.  We could not keep them in the store - I was always selling more than I could make in my spare time.  This success led to a couple of spin-offs:  The Baby Owl Kit and later a kit designed especially for the clothing and accessory store Anthropologie. 

Fast forward to late 2010.  Fresh from International Quilt Market and a few years of fabric design school, I decided to update my small line of patterns and expand the offerings.  After months of looking through my customer feedback notes while I was designing fabric, I finally had a real gem:  The revised Patchwork Owl Family pattern.  So... other than a pretty new hand-painted cover and some slick graphics, what does this re-release have that the original lacked?

The 2011 Re-Release

I really listened to my customers - spoken and unspoken feedback was really important to the re-design process.  The most important change was in the back pieces.  In the original version, a gap was to be left in the curved side of the owl to allow for turning and stuffing.  While this was adequate for this purpose, many customers weren't able to preserve the curve when the gap was sewn shut.  By making the back neck seam straight and building in a turning and stuffing gap into that seam, everyone can now have a perfect curve all the way around the owl!  Plus the straight gap is easier to stuff through and sew closed at the very end.

Also updated is the front body assembly.  Previous versions of this pattern called for stitching the wings onto a body piece in an applique-like fashion.  This wasted fabric and was difficult for some beginning seamsters to accomplish, so I straightened the wing-to-tummy seams and simplified the construction. 

Almost everything else about the owls is the same, except for a lot of little details that most people might not notice.  The detailed step-by-step instructions are now lovingly drawn by hand and show every important little detail of the construction.  These illustrations are now a little larger than those in the original pattern (along with the font size) - a plus to all of us who need a bit of magnification (do you see me raising my hand and adjusting my glasses?). 

(L) A fresh basket of new owls. 
(R) The improved back stuffing gap of the revised owl design.

I hope that new and return customers will enjoy my fresh new updates to this pattern.  It's a fun project to make, and was designed to be a relaxing and rewarding project for any occasion or time of the year.  For more information or to purchase this pattern, please visit my Etsy store.