Tutorial–How to Needle Felt a Bunny Rabbit

Perfect for springtime, make this cute bunny rabbit using needle felting!



I love needle felting! That you can take fluffy, unspun wool, stab it with a needle and end up with a cute little 3D object still amazes me!

If you are new to needle felting, don’t worry, just hop on over to my How to Needle Felt tutorial first to get you started. If you have done some needle felting before, get straight into the tutorial below.

You will need:

-Foam sponge pad
-36 gauge triangular felting needle
-38 gauge star felting needle (optional, but creates a nice finish)
-Merino roving in grey and white
-Beads for the face
-Beading thread and needle

How to:

1. The bunny is made up of one larger ball for the body and one smaller ball for the head. Start by creating the main body, using a palm-sized amount of roving. Roll up into a tight ball, keep felting until it is a defined shaped but still squashy.



2. The head is created in a similar way, but using a piece of roving about a third smaller than of the body. Roll it up into a ball, but keep the ends loose, rather than incorporating them into the ball, which will help you to attach  it to the main body.



3. To attach the head to the body, spread out the loose fibres evenly and needle them to the body, before taking the needle all around the join between head and body. Once you are happy they are felted together, turn the bunny upside down and needle to create a flattened base.



4. Now to make the tail! Take a finger sized piece of your white roving. Roll up, leaving loose fibres as you did for the head, except instead of smoothing them down over the body, swirl them round the base of the tail (like making a bun in your hair!) and needle securely to the body.



4.To make the ears. Pull out two equal, finger sized pieces of roving (starting out with the same amount means your ears are more likely to be the same!). Take one piece, fold in half, fold each side in so they just meet and bring the corners in and start to needle. Repeat this with the other piece of roving to make the second ear. When needle felting something fairly flat like this, its a good idea to pick it up after a few stabs to prevent it felting to the foam!



5.I find it easier to felt the two ears together lightly at the base, rather than attaching them one at a time. Place most of the loose, fluffy fibres down the back of the head, but try to leave a few coming over the face. Needle them one as you did with the head. Once they are attached, take time to reshape your bunny if needed and to needle down any fluffy bits (this is when I use the 38 gauge star needle, as I find it leaves a smoother finish)



6.Thread a size 10 beading needle with approx. 1m of beading thread (I’m using Nymo). Take the needle in the back of the head and out where you want your first eye to be. Add the bead (I’m using a size 8 seed bead) before your pull the needle all the way through to give you the chance to reposition if needed. Take the needle around the outside of the bead and back through the head. Try to make tiny stitches that are not visible on the back of the head. Repeat for the other eye and for the nose (I’m using a size 11 seed bead). Still using the same piece of thread, make a vertical stitch down from the nose, then make two diagonal stitches outwards. Trim off any excess threads and the loose ends should disappear in the felting. If you can still see any threads, needle some more roving over the top.





Why stop at one bunny? Make a whole warrens-worth of rabbits! If you make your own Needle Felted Bunny Rabbit or have any questions feel free to comment below or message me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook! Happy Making!