How to Make a Leather Owl Mask

Look more like an owl by wearing yellow-ringed color contact lenses with the mask.

Create a leather owl mask for a dramatic accessory to complement a costume for Halloween or any other costumed event. You can make the mask from your choice of natural or colored leather fabric, and then embellish it with decorative faux owl feathers to make it look more authentic. If you want a glitzier mask, you can adorn it with glitter, sew-on decals or other embellishments.

Things You'll Need

• 1/4 yard leather fabric
• 1/4 yard sew-on interfacing
• Sewing needle
• Thread
• Faux owl feathers
• Suede cord

Instructions

1. Measure the distance from the top of your forehead to one inch below your eyes. This is the length of the mask. Measure the distance from the outer edge of one cheekbone to the outer edge of the other. This is the width of the mask.

2. Lay the leather fabric on your work surface. Use the tailor’s chalk to draw a semicircle according to the facial measurements you took. Draw a straight line across the bottom of your fabric, according to the width measurement. From the middle of the line, measure upward, using the length measurement. Make a dot. Draw the semicircle from the bottom, left edge of the lint to the dot and back down to the bottom, right edge.

3. Cut out the semicircle shape from the leather. Lay the leather semicircle on the sew-on interfacing and cut out the shape.

4. Measure the distance from the outer edge of your cheekbones to the middle of your eyes. Lay the two shapes together and draw circles for eye cut-outs, according to your measurements. Cut out the circles for the eyes.

5. Sew around the outer edge of the leather with a straight stitch to join the two layers together. The interfacing provides a bit of extra sturdiness to the leather.

6. Cut out a triangle from the leather that measures about 1 1/2 inches wide by 2 inches high. This is the beak for the owl. Pin the 1 1/2-inch-wide base of the triangle to the center of the flat edge of the leather mask. Sew it in place.

7. Arrange the faux owl feathers over top of the eye cut outs and glue them in place with fabric glue.

8. Puncture the right and left bottom edges of the mask with a sharp knife. Cut a long piece of suede cord and slide one end into each hole. Try on the mask and tie the cord in a bow behind your head.

References

• "The Big Book of Animals Masks"; Elizabeth Miles and David Wright; 2001