Brooch: The Owl, the Moth and the Sequins

I'm at home today with 2 under-the-weather toddlers... well, considering the scene of devastation that is my living room I think they are feeling much better now ... and so we are somewhat housebound. Later we're making chocolate brownies, but first I kept my hands busy with this cute little craft.

I had a few charms left over from old projects, and when browsing around for new blogs to follow I found these fab Owl Brooches at Ellie's Treasures, what a great way to use all your felt scraps, AND I had a cute little owl who was in desperate need of a new home - rejected from the heirloom bouquet collection for (according to Mum) looking 'too much like a skull when looked at upside down'.

Although my design is completely different, as this is a bit of an 'homage' to Ellie's owl's I'm not going to go into to much depth about how it was made (although with a little craft experience it's not too hard to work out). I created this brooch using only items already in the house, raiding the craft cupboards and even resorting to rumaging around the long forgotten pot of spare garment buttons and ziplock baggies of sequins.

I experimented with the layout a bit, I originally cut the brach structure out of felt by eye (although this eventually was covered with sequins), then was rather indecisive about whether I really needed a moon (covered button) when the moth (technically a butterfly bead, but this is night ime after all) looked so pretty and brought out the silver of the Owl, so I ended up doing both.

I don't have the neatest hand stitch, and insist on using doubled thread - because essentially I'm lasy and hate re-threading the needle, but I do enjoying sewing little projects like this, it's quite relaxing. I have to admit this project was also a lesson in using sequins, as I'd not sewn with them before, took a few tried to get them overlapping in a suitable manner. I'm included photos of the back of the stiting panel and the eventual back of the broach to show how this can hide a multitude of sins. If I had been making this for a gift, rather than just for fun, I would probably have bought a proper brooch pin for the back, but a safety pin works just as well.

Not quite sure what I'm going to do with my little brooch now, if I can be parted from it, it may end up as a present for a special person. Was just so nice to do something non-wedding related for a while :D