Free Pattern For An Upcycled DIY Bunny Pillow

Inside: A free pattern for a DIY bunny pillow made from upcycled sweaters.

As the seasons change, so do the pillows and cushions on my couch. I’ve made many pillows from upcycled clothes such as old sweaters and jeans.

And many of them aren’t your traditional rectangular pillow shape. I have a Christmas tree and a mountain pillow for winter. Denim fish pillows and luggage tag pillows for summer and acorn pillows for fall.

I’ve just added to my spring collection of pillows; with these cute sweater bunnies, they can sit on the couch next to my flower-shaped pillows.

Upcycling Sweaters into DIY Bunny Pillows

I had a few lovely soft pink cashmere ones in my large stash of old woollen sweaters, perfect for turning into a cute bunny pillow. These pillows are quite simple to make; they also add a bit of spring fun to the sofa.

 

What you need to make your bunny pillows

• I felt old wool sweaters in a hot wash like I did with my mountain cushions /pillows.
• Scrap-coloured pieces of felt for the eyes and face.
• Fibre stuffing – I use old pillows.
• A large piece of paper for the template.
• Scissors, fabric glue, pins, needles and thread.

How to Make A Bunny Cushion

One sweater will be enough per cushion.

Step 1: Lay the sweater flat out and place the paper on top to make a template. Draw a pattern on the paper that will allow you to make a cushion as big as possible. Whilst the paper is pinned to the sweater, draw the face and feet on to paper.

Step 2: Cut out your cushion shape from the sweater, keeping the sleeves to one side. Cut out a bunny-shaped ear from each sleeve.

Step 3: Cut out the felt for the face using the paper template.

Making The Face

 Before sewing up the sides of the bunny body and ears, you need to make a face.

Step 4: For the eyes, cut out four circles, decreasing in size for each eye in various colours. Cut out two felt eyelids; these are half circles slightly bigger than your largest circle. Using fabric glue, stick the circles on top of one another in size order, with eyelids on top. Then sew these onto your felt facepiece.
 
Use any stitch you prefer. I used a blanket stitch. It is nice to use an embroidery thread in a contrasting colour and make the stitch a feature.

Step 5: Cut a small triangle of felt for the nose. Then embroider the mouth and teeth on to the felt.

Step 6: Stitch this to the front of your sweater using your preferred stitch when the face is finished.

Step 7: Turn your sweater body and ears inside out and stitch up, leaving a small hole to stuff it. Turn the right sides out, stuff them with fibre filling, and sew the holes shut. Sew the ears to the body.

Step 8: Add some embellishments to give your DIY bunny pillow more character. Such as inners in a contrasting fabric for the ears and feet pads. Felt flowers and hearts are great for hiding holes in your jumper and for extra interest.

Don’t forget to make a big pompom for the tail! Click here to see a quick and clever way to make pom poms.

These cute bunny pillows are a great addition to any Easter crafting and decorating.

You might like to check out all these uniquely shaped pillow tutorials and the many different ways to make denim pillows.

You can upcycle old sweaters into many more things; check out this collection of sweater Christmas upcycles.