I saw a cute sewing pattern in a book in EvilChainStore, but I didn't want to buy the book, so I took a look at the finished project pictured on the front and did my best to copy it at home. 

It's a gift for my friend Debbie, whose housewarming gift I probably should have mailed quite awhile ago. So I named her DebbieOwl, The Bitchin'-est Owl That E'er There Was. It's a pretty bitchin' owl. 

Commercial patterns are kind of a funny thing; they rub against the grain of a very, very long tradition of sharing and adapting patterns and techniques among women. You can copy my pattern if you like and make lots and lots of owls (they will not be DebbieOwls -- only owls for Debbie are DebbieOwls, yours would be SomeoneElseOwls, unless you are also giving Debbie owls, which would be kinda fun). Just flip through to the shapes all laid out (#5). Note that I included feet in the pattern but then decided DebbieOwl would be too cluttered and left them out. She is only about 4 inches tall. 

I used a package of colour-coordinated 5"x5" squares, acquired from EvilChainStore for a much better price than they probably intended, but I think old flannel shirts would work just as well and still be very colourful. I really only manage to dress myself like a grownup about half the time, and even then I need to wear all black because I can't colour-coordinate, so I need to stick with the pre-chosen fabric and colours, or things end up looking wacky and not very attractive. 

DebbieOwl's bum turned out looking a bit weird, like someone took a bite out of it. But as I was sewing I was thinking about how obsessively I tried to make her symmetical while I was cutting the pattern. I was copying what I saw on the book cover, but the more I worked on it the more I thought what an ableist aesthetic I was reproducing. Of course owls aren't any more symmetical than people are. Plus they are always flying around hooting and eating field mice and bugs and crashing into trees and stuff. They are not worried about whether their eyes are perfect circles. So I think some DebbieOwl adaptations that are a little rougher around the edges would be very cute.