Project 52 - Miniature Bear Making - #7

Easter Bunnies!

Hold up a fabric animal and ask a five year old what it is.  If the answer is BUNNY! then you can be fairly sure  your animal has long years.  Yep, the shape of an animal's ears is one of its most distinguishing features. 

Bunnies also differ from teddy bears in other small ways.  Modern teddies mostly don't have tails.  A round little button tail on a bunny is almost a must.  Bunnies usually have big feet, and a nice fat tummy to go with it.

I turned Angus' pattern into Apryl the Easter Bunny by making just a few changes to the pattern. 

• The ears are longer.  If you are altering your own pattern, start by making the ears about three times the height of the teddy bear's ears.  Remember there is no rule.  Bunny ears can be long or short, whatever!
• The ears can be stiffened with a chenile stick or florist wire if you want them to stand up.
• For Apryl, I used a 17mm circle as template for the tail.  Gather the circle around the edges, stuff lightly, and ladder stitch to the body.  This must be the easiest way ever to make a tail.
• I like my bunnies to have short noses.  If you alter the side head, you also need to alter the gusset to make sure they fit together.
• Bunnies must have big feet!  I made Apryl's feet almost half as long again as Angus'.  Remember to make the footpad bigger too.
• Just for fun, I made Apryl a fat tummy.  It's probably from eating so many Easter eggs... 
• If you don't enjoy embroidering noses, a bunny will suit your style.  Notice how I made only an outline for Apryl's nose?  When making a bunny, this is good enough.  But of course, if you prefer to embroider the nose, Apryl would look good with that too.

Here's an exploded view of Apryl, with my altered pattern sheet.  If you don't feel adventurous enough to alter Angus' pattern yourself, you will find my altered templates HERE.

In order to have all the pattern pieces to complete Apryl, you will also need the Angus pattern, which you will find in my Etsy Shop, and on the Tin Soldiers Website.

Apryl wants to share a blue speckled egg but Angus says "No, find your own!"  

 

This is my book page for Week 7.  

I made a little envelope to store my altered pattern templates in.

I have made page templates if you would like to copy mine, but it could also be fun to make your own.  Every week, you will find printable templates for Project 52 HERE .