A little unselfish sewing is good for the soul! My oldest friend recently gave birth to a gorgeous baby boy and I wanted to mark little Zavier’s arrival with something handmade. Enter the Merino Bunny….

This is my first foray into toy making and actually, I found it hugely satisfying and I’m really happy with how he turned out…

What’s even better is that this little bunny’s eco credentials are solid 🙂 He’s made from a merino jumper that I loved but after it’s first wear,,,,got seriously felted when put in the tumble dryer by mistake! (We’ve all done it!)….in fact all the elements of Merino Bunny, (despite being natural/luxury materials like merino, silk and cotton), are reused/thrifted/recycled…(apart from the filling which is new!)

Essentially I just deconstructed the garment by cutting around the seams…

Then cut my pieces using a free online pattern. The pattern can be downloaded here and there are ample clear instructions to follow there, so I won’t go into that here….

His ears are lined with scraps of cotton seersucker (thrifted) and I embroidered his facial features using vintage silk embroidery thread that I thrifted aaaaages ago. His pom pom tail is also made from a vintage thrifted silk/cotton mix yarn….(this is one thrifty bunny!)

Never really seen the point in pom pom makers. This is how I make mine. Wrapped around the hand (not tooo tight or your fingers will start to go blue!)…slip the skien off the hand and tie securely in the centre….snip the loops….then fluff out the pom pom, and trim to shape…

This is the yarn in question. I think it was in production in the 80’s. But a quick google or ebay search should be able to bag you some. It does pop up on ebay from time to time and I recently saw some on Etsy too.

I departed from the pattern a little when it came to bunny’s arms and legs. The pattern suggests having them unstuffed and floppy. But I stuffed mine and gave his “fingers” and “toes” a more three dimensional effect using large stitches inbetween…using the same silk thread I used on his features….

He’s actually as big as baby Zavier…..

But hey….he’ll grow into it 🙂

All together now…..awwwww!