Needle Felted Bunny: An Easy Rabbit in Two Hours

Bunny felting is the usual second project in needle felting, and arguably a better first one than a ball. It is two shapes joined together, it needs no wire, and it is forgiving — a slightly lumpy rabbit still looks like a rabbit, which is not true of a cat or a dog.

What you need

• Core wool — about 12 g
• Surface colour: cream, grey, brown or white corriedale — 5 g
• Scraps of pink, black and white
• 38 and 40 gauge needles, foam pad
• Optional: 4 mm glass eyes

Step by step

1. Body. Roll core wool into a tight egg roughly 5 cm long. Needle all over until firm, keeping the wider end at the bottom. Flatten the base against the mat so it sits without rolling — a sitting rabbit's body is a pear, not a ball.
2. Haunches. Needle two shallow curved grooves down either side, from the middle of the back to the base, and add a small wisp of wool outside each groove to build the thigh. This one step turns an egg into a rabbit.
3. Head. A separate ball, about two-thirds the body's width. Firm it hard, then needle the front into a slightly flattened wedge — rabbits have a rounded face with a small blunt muzzle at the bottom.
4. Join. Leave loose fibre at the base of the head, press it onto the shoulders and needle those fibres in from all directions. Lay a thin veil over the join and felt it down until the neck disappears.
5. Ears. To needle felt rabbit ears, fold a small piece of wool into a long teardrop on the mat and needle it flat and firm, leaving loose fibre at the narrow end. Make both together so they match. Turn frequently so both faces are smooth, then trim the edges to shape and tidy the cut with a few strokes.
6. Attach the ears at the back of the top of the head, angled slightly backwards and outwards, with the loose base fibres needled deep into the skull. Pinch a shallow fold into the base of each so it cups forward.
7. Front paws. Two small sausages, attached at the chest and lying forward against the body.
8. Tail. A loose ball of white wool, needled just enough to hold together and attached at the back. Do not firm it — the point is that it looks fluffy.
9. Face. Two shallow dents for eye sockets, set wide on the sides of the head, not the front. Rabbits' eyes are almost on the sides. Add a tiny pink or brown Y-shaped nose and mouth with a 40 gauge needle.
10. Coat. Thin veils of the surface colour over the whole body, needled at a shallow angle, with white on the chest, belly and around the eyes.

Why a felted rabbit ends up with floppy ears

Floppy ears on a rabbit that was meant to have upright ones. The cause is always density: an ear needled until it holds together is not the same as an ear needled until it is stiff. Keep going until it feels like thin card, and check by holding it upright — if the tip bends under its own weight, it needs more work or more wool at the base.

If it still will not stand, needle a short length of florist's wire into the centre of the ear before finishing it.

Variations

• Lop rabbit. Make the ears longer, wider and deliberately soft, and attach them low on the sides of the head so they hang.
• Hare. Longer ears with black tips, longer legs, a leaner body, head held higher.
• Lying down. Flatten the body into a loaf, tuck the paws under, and lay the ears back along the spine.
• Baby bunny. Larger head relative to the body, shorter ears, rounder everything. Roughly 5 cm total.
• Easter bunny. White wool, a ribbon, and a basket or a felted egg — see needle felted Easter eggs.

Making it a keyring or an ornament

Needle a loop of embroidery thread or a small screw eye into the top of the head before the final surface veils, then cover the base of the loop with wool. Doing it afterwards never looks as tidy. Small rabbits also work as bag charms.

Where to go next

The rabbit teaches the join, the flat-piece method for ears, and simple facial dents. All three carry directly into a fox, a sheep and a hedgehog. For a full run of starter projects see needle felting ideas for beginners.