Hot-water bottle cover

Any child will love this hot-water bottle cover. Follow our easy steps to ensure your little one is kept warm at night.

You will need
• owl template
• 30cm striped cotton fabric
• 50cm white cotton fabric
• remnants of cotton print for triangles, wings and feet
• remnants of cotton fabric: dark brown for eyes, red for nose and pink for cheeks
• 15cm appliqué paper
• 50cm lightweight batting
• stuffing for wings and feet
• 5cm Velcro
• dark brown embroidery thread
• matching machine thread

Cut the pattern pieces  as follows:
Striped cotton
1 x body front (pattern 2)
1 x body back (pattern 4)
4 x strips of 25 x 2,5c

White cotton
1 x head front (pattern 1)
2 x head back (pattern 3)
2 x body back (pattern 4)
1 x cover lining (pattern 5)

Cotton in prints and colours
4 x printed wings
4 x printed legs
20 x printed squares
2 x dark brown eyes
2 x white eyes
1 x red nose
2 x pink cheeks

Appliqué paper
4 x eyes
1 x nose
2 x cheeks

Batting
1 x head back (pattern 3)
1 x body back (pattern 4)
1 x cover lining (pattern 5)

To make
1  First make the hot-water bottle cover’s decorated front. Fold each square in half to form a triangle and fold a second time to form a smaller triangle (figures 1 and 2). Press each triangle.

2 Pin the triangles onto the striped cotton body front (pattern 2), according to the pattern. The triangles overlap at the points.

Sketch 1 and 2

3 Fold in hems along the long sides of the four striped cotton strips and stitch a strip above each row of triangles.

4 Using appliqué paper, iron the eyes, nose and cheeks onto the white head front (pattern 1) according to the pattern. Stitch around the eyes, nose and cheeks. Using embroidery thread, embroider around the brown and white of the eyes, as well as in the centre of each eye (refer to photo).

5 Place the legs and wings together in pairs, right sides facing. Stitch around the outer edge, leaving the top edge open. Clip the curves of the legs and wings, turn through to the right side and stuff to just below the top edge (figure 3). Stitch the top edge closed.

6 Place the white head front and the striped cotton body front together with right sides facing and stitch. Overlock the seam.

Sketch 3

7 Place the fronts together as follows: white cover lining (pattern 5), then the batting cover lining (pattern 5) and then the decorated cover front, right side uppermost. Pin around the edge.

8 Now make the back side of the cover. Place the two white head back pieces (pattern 3) together with right sides facing and then the batting head back on top. Stitch the lower edge (figure 4). Fold the one layer of white cotton over to the right side and stay stitch (figure 5).

Sketch 4 and 5

9 Stitch the Velcro where indicated on the pattern. Pin the three layers together around the edge.

10 Place the two white body backs (pattern 4) together with right sides facing and then the batting body back on top. Stitch the top closed. Fold the one layer of white cotton over to the right side and stay stitch.

11 Stitch the Velcro where indicated on the pattern. Pin the three layers together around the edge.

12 Place the head back and the body back together so that the Velcro corresponds exactly and the back forms one piece, the same size as the front. Pin together.

13 Place the wings and legs onto the right side of the front, as indicated on the pattern, so that they face inwards. Stitch in place (figure 6).

14 Place the front onto the back with right sides facing. Pin around the outer edge and stitch. (Stitch carefully as the layers are quite bulky.) Overlock the seam and turn the cover through to the right side.