Happy Easter! Today’s post is an easter themed sewing DIY. Sew along with me, and see how I made this super cute stuffed bunny toy, that is perfect for Easter.

Can you believe it is Easter already? It feels like we are in a bit of a twilight zone, with the current situation going on. I am lucky enough to be able to have the easter bank holiday off (where I am getting truly into my creative/crafty headspace), but so many aren’t able to. This includes my colleagues, and I just want to send a bit of love out to all other fellow NHS and other essential workers at this time. We will get through this together 💪 (at a safe social distance)!

So, to distract myself from all that is happening and to hopefully spread a bit of positivity, I thought it would be nice to have a go at making a stuffed bunny toy. Perfect for the theme of Easter, and to give to my young niece as an Easter present (when we can finally see each other again).

Stuffed Bunny Toy

This bank holiday I got out my trusty sewing machine again, and a sewing pattern I used to make other stuffed animal toys for my niece when she was born. The pattern of choice is Simplicity K1549 featuring lots of different animals to make, with the bunny being the one of choice this time around. I made the owl and fox toys previously. This is a great pattern for having a go at making a few stuffed toys. I bought this approximately 5 years ago, so hopefully, it is still available for purchase.
This could probably double up as a cute little animal cushion as well. It features a few different sewing techniques, including a bit of applique, which I have to admit is not one of my strengths when it comes to sewing.

To start off, you will need the pattern above to have a go at replicating this bunny. However, there are loads of free outlines available online, where you could do a less complex version. Pinterest is brilliant for this sort of thing, isn’t it? Unfortunately, you will also need a sewing machine for this, as the stitching needs to be quite robust. I don’t know if you would achieve the same outcome by hand sewing it together, and it would take you an age!

What you need:

To make this super cute stuffed bunny toy, you will need the following items:

• Simplicity K1549 os sewing pattern
• 3 contrasting pieces of material –
  – 1 for the base of head, arms, legs and ears
  – 1 for the main body
  – 1 for the extra detailing on the ears
• Black felt (optional)
• Sewing machine
• Hand sewing needle
• Matching thread
• Pins
• Scissors

Step 1 – Cutting out material

There are six pattern pieces to make this cute stuffed bunny toy. Cut the pattern pieces out and place them onto the corresponding piece of material (see items needed above).
Some of the patterns call for two pieces, such as the head and body, with the arms, legs and ears all requiring four pieces of material.
For the head and body, fold your material in half and place the straight edge along the fold. This will give you two pieces when cutting out, and along the fold. When lining up the body part, you have to work out which way the pattern is going on the material. You don’t want to cut it out, to have the body upside down when you come to sew.

When placing on the pieces that require four pieces of material, you want to fold the material in half, and then in half again to give you the four layers. make sure these are even, and you don’t want the pieces being misaligned, or cut off on the edges.

Pin all into place, and when you are happy, cut these out. When cutting out the pattern pieces, you want to make sure that you are keeping the material flat, and holding it in place. If you lift the material there is a high chance that this will shift, and the piece can potentially be cut out wrong. Try to cut as evenly as possible and to the edge of the pattern piece.

When all of the pieces are cut out, use your iron to gently press out all the creases. This will make all of your material smooth, and much easier to align as well as sew.

Step 2 – Applique the face

Before heading to the sewing machine, the front part of the bunny needs to be created, face and all. In the pattern pack, there is a small nose shape to cut out. The pattern recommends using felt, which is what I have used in this project. However, if you don’t have felt, you could draw the outline of the nose in place, and hand sew/embroider this instead.

Once you have the nose piece of the felt, take the face pattern piece, placing it over the material for the head. Make sure this is face right side up, and only one piece out of the two headpieces. Layover the pattern piece, and using some tailor’s chalk, or sewing marker, lightly mark where the start and end of each detail is. This includes the position of the nose, the eyes and little mouthpiece.

Using a pin, pin the nose into the place where you have marked. With a hand needle and black thread, begin attaching the nose to the face. Sew along the edge of the felt nose piece. Start at the back of the material, so that once the bunny is complete, the knot is on the inside.

Once the nose is in place, it is time to have a practice at hand sewing/embroidering. Ideally, embroidery thread would probably look better, but I didn’t have this type of thread to hand. Carefully sew out the mouth and eyepieces to the face. I found that starting from the back of the material, bringing it through and back down, creating a stitch worked well. Then bring the needle up through half of that stitch, before creating another stitch, helped the line appear a bit more seamless. I hope that makes sense!

Step 3 – Make the ears

When the face has been appliqued, it is time to sew the bunny’s ears. A bunny isn’t a bunny without the ears, right? So, you should have 4 pieces for the ears. Match up into the corresponding pairs, and choose one from either pair to be the front of the ear. Using the separate material for the applique part of the ear, line this up into the middle of the ear material. Make sure they are both facing right side up.

Pin the applique part of the ear to the actual front ear, and head over to the sewing machine to attach. The pattern recommends using a zig-zag stitch for this, which is the one I used. I don’t think there is any harm in doing a straight stitch if that is what you prefer. I am using the material from my Christmas Stockings.

Once the applique part is complete, you then want to form the ears. Take the newly sewn earpiece and place it face down onto the back earpiece. make sure that both sides are right side to right side. Then, head over to the sewing machine again and sew a seam all the way around, apart from the bottom edge. Leave this open, as you need to turn the ear right side out. Backstitch on each end of the seam.

Turn each ear right side out, and press to iron out any crease and allow the ear to lay flat. Set this aside for now.

Step 4 – Attach head and body together

The next step in creating the stuffed bunny toy is to attach the front head and body together. Take your newly appliqued face part and line this up with the front body part. Make sure that they are right side to right side (pattern sides facing each other). Line up the notches that are on the pattern and pin in place.

Then jump onto the sewing machine and create a seam to join them together. Make sure that you have fully incorporated the notches into the seam. I found that I had cut the notches a bit too deep, which meant I had to create a deeper seam. If the notches are out of the seam, this may cause the material to fray and undo at that part of the seam.

Set aside for now.

Step 5 – Sew the arms and legs

Now, it is time to create the arms and legs for the cute stuffed bunny toy. Pair up the corresponding arms and legs, so that you have two of each. Place these right side to right side and sew them together. Make sure the ends are left open, and you backstitch each side. That way you are able to turn them right side out. Clip any corners/rounded areas before turning right side out, to allow it to move into the curve shape of the arms and legs.

Press the arms and legs, so that they are laying flat and the creases have been removed. This will make it easier to close up the raw edge.

Using toy stuffing, lightly stuff the arms and legs so they are slightly padded out. I opted to use the remnants of the many pom-poms I made to make my pom-pom cushion. If you have leftover pom-pom remnants, a quick tip, they make brilliant stuffers for stuffed toys and cushions. It’s a great way to recycle your materials!

Then head back to the sewing machine, and change it to the largest stitch possible on the machine. Sew across the opening with the larger stitch, also known as a basting stitch. This will secure the stuffing inside, as well as make it easier to attach to the body of the bunny.

Step 6 – Baste the ears, arms and legs to the bunny

Now that the ears, arms and legs have been created, it is time to tack them to the front of the stuffed bunny toy. Start with the ears. Grab the pattern piece for the head part of the bunny, and lay this over the top of the head. There should be four small circles. These indicate where the ear’s placement should be on the head of the stuffed bunny toy. Pin the ears in place.

Head to the sewing machine, leaving it on the largest stitch possible, and sew a straight seam across each ear. This will attach it to the front of the head. Make sure the ears are attached so that they are facing down over the front of the head.

Then repeat this process with the arms and legs. The body piece of the pattern also has indicators of where the arms and legs should be placed.

If you have your own sew-in labels like me, now is the time to add them. Baste stitch this onto one side of the bunny’s body. I placed mine just underneath one of the arms. Be careful with the bunny now, as these stitches are designed to only be temporary and are not fully secure. This is due to the size/length of the stitch, making it a much looser attaching stitch.

Step 7 – Sew the stuffed bunny toy together

Now that the arms, legs and ears are in place, we are nearly ready to create the stuffed bunny toy.
Using the same method as creating the front of the head, repeat this for the back. Again, make sure that the middle notches align when attaching the head to the body parts.

It is then time to attach the front and back of the bunny together. Lay the front piece down, with the right side facing up. Make sure all the arms, legs and ears are folded inwards, as we want these to be incorporated inside of the bunny at the moment.
Align the two seams of the front and back head-body pieces, so that it will be even when sewn together. The back piece should be right side facing down. In essence, the bunny will look inside out. Pin like mad to secure it all in place. Leave an open space between the bunny’s legs. This will be left unsewn so that the bunny can be pulled right side out and stuffed.

Head to the sewing machine and sew an even seam around the whole edge of the bunny. Make sure the arms, legs and ears are fully into the seams. You don’t want the bast stitch to be showing on the outside of the bunny. Backstitch on both sides of the opening that you are leaving open.

Step 8 – Turn right side out and stuff

Once you are happy with your seams, it is time to turn right side out. Again, make sure that you are happy that the arms, legs and ears and fully attached through the seams. It is harder to rectify once the bunny is turned right side out.

Through the opening left, begin gently pulling the bunny right side out. I just want to note, I don’t know why the pattern makers thought this was the best place to leave the opening. It looks like the poor bunny is giving birth to itself. Just going to leave that image in your head haha!
The opening is quite small, so it can be quite difficult and time consuming getting the bunny right side out. This is why it is so important to backstitch on each side of the opening, to reduce the risk of splitting the seam.

Once the bunny is right side out, you may notice that it is very creased. Press this so that the creases vanish. Also, press the raw edges inside the bunny. This makes it so much easier to sew together at the end.

Now it is time to stuff the bunny so that it resembles the stuffed bunny toy it should be. Again, I used the remnants of the pom-poms, but toy stuffing is fab for this too.

Step 9 – Close up

When you are happy with the amount of stuffing, it is time to close up the opening. To do this, you need the needle and matching thread. Sew a ladder or invisible stitch to close the gap. I am not the neatest hand stitcher, so mine is not quite the ladder stitch it could be. Something to keep practising I guess!

Then your stuffed bunny toy is ready for whoever to enjoy!

How do you think this has turned out? Who would you make a stuffed bunny toy for? Let me know in the comments below!

Stuffed Bunny Toy Video:

To make following this tutorial easier, here is the video version of the project for you to enjoy. Don’t forget to Subscribe to my YouTube channel. I will be eternally grateful if you do!

Stuffed Bunny Toy – Pin it:

If you enjoyed this post, why not share the love by pinning it for later?

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