A little while ago, my stepsister Nadia asked me if I could make a plush version of Hoot the owl from Giggle and Hoot for my nephew, Ethan. I agreed and promptly forgot about it until his third birthday started looming, and then I remembered. Since I’d never seen the show, I googled Hoot and got a good picture of him to work from.

Initially, I thought I’d make him out of felt, but I changed my mind and went for blue fleece instead, to make him softer and more sturdy. I used orange felt for his wings, legs and beak, beige felt for his eye outlines and heart patch, and black and white felt for his eyes. Making him was quite an adventure – although I had made some plushies before, they’d all been quite small and made from felt, and most importantly, their bodies were made out of two pieces of material stitched together on the outside. I wanted Hoot to be quite round, so I had to use the “orange segment” method of making him, and doing it with the seams on the inside. I made two half circles out of segments, then sewed them so one was half inside the other to create the seamed effect around Hoot’s middle. It worked surprisingly well! I then stuffed him, and although he was a little bit lumpy, he was still nice and round. I then hand-sewed all his embellishments, and finally finished him this morning, ready for Ethan’s birthday this afternoon! He was a big hit, and everyone recognised him as Hoot (phew!)

I learned a lot from making Hoot, and I look forward to making more plushies in future with my new-found skills 🙂