Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! Meet the Browie sock owl family, another sock softie creation to add to the selection of sock animal patterns and tutorials in Craft Passion.
When it comes to birds, I am a big fan of the owl. There’s something about them that makes them adorable. Is it their big, big eyes? Or the way their heads can swivel around almost magically? Whatever it is, I got inspired to design this family of sock owls.
Say “Hi” To Browie, The Sock Owl Family!
The Browie sock owl family has a distinctive appearance – prominent eyebrows that connect to the ears, an orange beak, and a pair of very short feet which are hidden by their big tummies. Mummy Browie is grey with purple spots, while Daddy Browie, also grey, has white chickenpox-like scars all over his front. Their offspring somehow have red, white, black, and yellow stripes!
Sock Owl – Free Sewing Pattern
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The Browie sock owl family came into the craft room on a cold night, with no stars that could be seen in the cloud-filled sky. Even the moon was nowhere to be found. It was still early in the night, but every house was already brightly lit. Dogs and cats curled up in their beds or cages, and baby birds snuggled up in their nests. Even the mice and crickets were quiet for once. Then, in the midst of all the silence …..
“Hoot! Hoot!”
What was that?
“Hoot! Hoot!”
This time it sounded different, slightly deeper. What could it be?
“Hoot! Hoot!”
And this time it sounded higher, like a baby version of the first two hoots.
An owl hooting! How wonderful, I thought to myself. I decided to follow the sound to see where it could possibly be coming from.
Past two houses…
Across the street…
Right up to an apple tree…
Ah, there was the nest. Were there eggs? No, the nest was empty except for some broken pieces of eggshells. That must mean the eggs have hatched and the baby owl must be somewhere along with its family nearby.
“HOOT! HOOT!” That was loud and really close! I looked up and there they were.
The Browie owl family! Daddy Browie and Mommy Browie are patiently teaching Baby Browie and his siblings how to fly. Baby Browie almost lost his balance a few times, but after a few tries, he finally took off flying and his proud parents flew after him.
On a cold quiet night, we watched Baby Browie owl take his first flight. How cool is that? Now, I am completely committed to making the Browie sock owl family so they have made a new home in my craft room.
This sock owl toy can sit (or stand) well on any flat surface, by stuffing a bean pack at the bottom of its tummy. Leave out the bean pack and string it up, and the Browie sock owl will be a hanging ornament for your craft room, bedroom, in the car, or even on your bicycle handles.
Make other owl-like crafts with these free owl patterns & tutorials:
Owl Macaron Coin Purse Sewing Pattern
Owl Nursery Mobile Sewing Pattern
SOCK OWL SEWING PATTERN
Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! Meet the Browie sock owl family, another sock softie creation to add to the selection of sock animal patterns and tutorials in Craft Passion.
The Browie sock owl family has a distinctive appearance – prominent eyebrows that connect to the ears, an orange beak, and a pair of very short feet which are hidden by their big tummies. Mummy Browie is grey with purple spots, while Daddy Browie, also grey, has white chickenpox-like scars all over his front. Their offspring somehow have red, white, black, and yellow stripes!
This sock owl toy can sit (or stand) well on any flat surface, by stuffing a bean pack at the bottom of its tummy. Leave out the bean pack and string it up, and the Browie sock owl will be a hanging ornament for your craft room, bedroom, in the car or even on your bicycle handles.
Materials
- Sock (crew length), 1 pair. You can substitute 1 side with a plain white sock for bean pack; or use 1 pair of ankle-length socks. The pretty socks are available at Craft Passion Shop.
- White felt (for the white of the eye)
- Orange felt or orange sock scrap (for the beak)
- Button eye 1/2″ [13mm], black, 2; or felt
- Poly-fill stuffing material
- Stuffing beans or silica beads (for bean pack)
- Sewing threads (matching colors)
Tools
- Sewing machine. You can also hand-sew if you prefer
- Long Sewing Needle (about 2") and pins
- Erasable fabric marker
- Scissors
- Blunt point tweezers
Instructions
- Prepare all materials above. Always pre-washed your socks before sewing them.
- Prepare a small bean pack/bean bag if you wish to weigh down the sock owl so that it is able to sit firmly.
- Cut out the foot part of a colored sock of your choice. Cut 2 circles from white felt (1" diameter) as eye and a diamond shape orange felt or felt as the beak.
- Stuff parts with bean pack and poly-fill stuffing materials and sew to close the opening.
- Massage the parts to even out the lumps of the stuffing.
- Mark and sew eyebrows, followed by eyes and beak of the sock owl.
- Sew and cut to make 2 semi-circles as wings from the balance of the sock. Stuff and sew the wings to the body to complete the sock owl stuffed animal.
Seam Allowance: give yourself approximately 1/8” or 1/4” (you need bigger seam allowance for loose-knit and thinner sock materials because they can be ripped off easily)
MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO SEW
BROWIE SOCK OWL
PREPARATION, DRAW, SEW & CUT
Gather the materials and tools needed to sew the sock owl.
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 the eye.
Cut 1 piece of orange felt or sock into an asymmetrical diamond shape for the beak, as shown in the picture.
BEAN PACK (OPTIONAL)
1.) Sew a running stitch around the raw edge of the silica beads bean pack sock.
2.) Fill with silica beads or rice or other 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.
BODY
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.
EYEBROWS
Draw out the eyebrows 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 thicker and fuller eyebrows 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 these 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 brows.
4.) Now, pull the thread in stages starting at a few stitches from the beginning point, pull to make the eyebrows 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 eyebrows connecting to the ears of the sock owl looks.
EYES & BEAKS
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 slipstitches while turning the raw edges into the beak. If you find this a little 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 look like. Different positions of the eyes will give different character look of the owl, for example – crossed-eye look.
WINGS
1.) Turn the lower leg part of the sock to the wrong side. Pin. Draw 2 semi-circles on the sock with a 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 notice that the eye positions have changed slightly? The owl’s expression has changed from a crooked-eye look to a more serious look and its eyes are straighter.
Do you love Browie, the sock owl?
Say "Hi" to Baby Bowie as well.
Use baby socks to make the sock owl chick with the same method. Resize the white felt and orange sock for the eyes and beak so they’re proportionate to the size of the chick. You may also use smaller buttons for the black of the eyes too.
Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! Happy “owling”!
Notes
The bean pack is for the sitting/standing sock owl. Omit the bean pack if yours is a hanging ornament.
For different sizes of sock owls, use different types of socks - baby socks, toddler socks, ankle socks, or socks in different sizes. It will be a delight to see the whole Browie family in all their unique colors and sizes.
Socks will be stretched after they are stuffed so thick socks that are close-knit make better quality sock owl toys.
Tip: always massage the stuffing to loosen out lumps. Long tubular parts should be rolled with both hands so any lumps will be smooth, and help to make the parts longer and firmer.
Recommended Products
Purchase the exact same material and tool used in this pattern from Craft Passion Shop.
Bonjour , je suis en admiration de toutes ses belles choses que je vois par ici , j’aimerais en faire certains j’espère pouvoir faire traduire en français car je ne parle pas anglais , merci merci c’est tellement beau .Bon dimanche
Translation (by Google):
Hello, I’m in awe of all his beautiful things that I see here, I would like to do some I hope I can translate into French because I do not speak English, thank you thank you it’s so beautiful. Good Sunday
I love your awesome website design and your content. I am a baker and enjoy making muffins on weekends when time allows me to cook.
Hi, This is a lovely food recipe, thank you for sharing it with us for the awesome blog post.
Fabulous
I love your owls and would like to make some for my grankids.
Please make them, your grandkids will love it 🙂
Where can Ifind silicone or stuffing beads. I live in Pennsylvania.
Hi Beth, I am not sure which shop in Pennsylvania has the stuffing beads. You may use any cheap beads or short grain rice or other beans to substitute if you really can’t find it.
Hope this helps.
Michael’s? Walmart? Hobby Lobby?
These are adorable! Planning to make for my friends newborn and I don’t want to use bead stuffing for safety, would you recommend anything else or is using just bamboo filling ok?
Hi Artandcrafty,
Without the bead stuffing, the owl can’t stand well. If you do not mind that it cant stand, you can leave with it. Otherwise, may be you can use short grain rice if you think it is better than using beads. Hope this helps.
Love all your tutorials so much! Where do you get all your super cute socks?
Hi Liz,
We have some cute socks in our online shop, store.craftpassion.com.
This is so adorable and I would like to have a couple of them. Any chance you would make them and sell them to me??? It would mean the world to me if you would. I have disabilities that prevent me from doing certain things. Please let me know. I would be so grateful to you.
I am so sorry about your limited ability. I have no plan to make and sell the sock owl yet, at least for this year. Please check out my online shop for new updates. Hope to be able to sew and sell to you soon.
i love ur creativity
i love this website. because i didnt have left hand.but i love craft work and do last one month back. i am just relax watching ur website.and i am motivated my self again i do it craft work easily.thank u very much for your ideas and creativity.
I love this! I made one for fathers day and my dad loved it! Do you mind if I use this on my blog?
I love these but I don’t get how to do the eyes? The body is all sewn together, but the safety eyes have parts that are supposed to be inside? What did I miss?
Hi Mary, I used sewn type of button eyes, there is no part to be put into the body.
Im in LOVE with these softie owls!!! So I featured this post in my own blog: http://www.plushiepatterns.com/sock-owls-free-pattern-tutorial/ Thank you for this post…. my followers also loved it!!!! 🙂
Thank you, Becky 🙂
I think it’s easy tutorial. I’ll make it today. Thanks.
xoxo
Lunabe
The Owls are so cute.,I think it would make a Great Door stop, just put some kind of weight in it.
yes, definitely great as a door stopper. Just fill it up with sand in a plastic bag instead of polyester filling.
I love this tutorial, Thank you – I made a few for friends and family. If you would like to see them they can be found here on my blog 🙂
http://60degreesofinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/sock-owls.html
Joanne, I’m not sure you are aware of this, but a very large blog that collects tutorials from other blogs has taken all of your beautiful images from this post and created a collaged pictorial tutorial. While they do link to your post, there is really no reason for anyone to click over to your site, since the visual tutorial is all right there. http://diyallthings.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-make-sock-owl.html
Sorry to be the bear of bad news!
~Amanda
Thank you, Amanda for the head up. There many out there doing this to me and other great site, so sad. I hope someone can just ask them to take it down and put only a main picture instead of all the details.
Love these!
Thanks a lot for you,
It is a very nice and simple idea .
So cute, I think I will do a lot,
Thanks.
Love all your inventive, colorful sock animals. But I need a pig! Would you please add a pig to your zoo? Thanks!
Hi Rhonda, I will put the sock pig in my to-do list 🙂
These are so cute! I can’t wait to try this project… Thanks for sharing 😀
So glad I found this tutorial again – I am making one as a year end gift for my son’s 3rd grade teacher -who LOVES owls. I found a sock in the school colors -turning out so adorable! Thanks!
Hi Regina,
Wow, Glad to hear this!!!
Would you mind to share a picture or 2 with us when you are free?
Very cute owl, may I know where can I buy silica beads in Penang or KL or PJ? Thank you
I actually bought them from pet section in Aeon but it is not there anymore. You may replace it with rice or sand if you really can’t find silica beads.
I want to try these so bad! I haven’t made anything in years and you have me wanting to buy a sewing machine. These are sooooo cute! Thank you
You are most welcome, Connie. Hope that you get a sewing machine soon and start sewing a storm 🙂 In the mean time, you can also hand-sewn this sock owl.
I love your sock patterns, they are soooo cute, and easy to follow. I gave sock monkeys for birthdays and Christmas last year, so quess what they get this year? Thanks for the great projects..
I am so glad to know this, Denise. Your friends and relatives are so lucky to have you sewing beautiful handmade gifts for them!
Oh MY GOSH!! Cutest sock project I have EVER seen!! I am going to share this in my blog as it’s so stinking CUTE!! 🙂
Oh, my goodness! Your little sock critters just keep getting cuter all the time!! These little guys just make me smile! 🙂
Thank you, Grandma G 🙂 Glad that they brightened up your day.
you’re a cute genius!!!
Thanks, Karen 🙂
This is adorable! Thanks so much for sharing. I have a little Niece that will love this to bits.
XO Nana
That’s great to know, Nana 🙂