A Basket of Bunnies

Literally.

A basket filled with the sweetest little stuffed bunnies.

Scrappy little friends, who are fun and easy to assemble.

 Roll Call......

Alright, alright. I may have gotten a little carried away.

But that little "Bunny Rainbow" sure does makes me smile!

A few days ago I made these classic linen bunnies as a gift for my Mother-in-law,

(she may have watched my very sick 8 month old for an entire week while I partied away at Disneyland)

She deserves a whole lot more than bunnies.....but they are a cute start.

I loved their vintage look, and actually have made 4 more just like them.

Seriously. When I say I have been stuffing bunnies all weekend, I am NOT lying. 

My kids saw the bunnies and wanted one of their very own to snuggle.

Do you want to make one too?

Good!

Here's the HOW TO!

You will need:

*1 Bunny Template HERE ( or just right click and save, and then print on your computer) 

This one makes the smaller bunnies.

*Scraps, or about 5" of fabric

*Pencil

*Stuffing

*Pinking Shears (optional)

* Ribbon and Pom Poms for accessories

 Okay, let's get started.

1. Turn your fabric right sides together, doubling it up, and lay your template on the wrong side of the fabric.

 2. Trace your cute little bunny friend.

 3. Grab your pinking shears, or regular scissors if you so choose, and cut that baby out.  Cut through both layers. You should now have two bunnies. (pinking shears will keep it from fraying a lot.  If you use regular scissors I would suggest finishing the edges with a serger or a zig zag stitch)

 4. Now lay your bunnies wrong sides together, right sides out.

 5. And you are going to stitch around the bunny just using a basic straight stitch.  Or you could get fancy with a decorative stitch....whatever floats your Easter boat, ladies.

 Be sure to leave a little opening at the bottom so you can stuff him up.

 6. And stuff him you will!  Those ears can be tricky, just hum a little bunny tune, I'm sure that will get you through it.

 7. Once he is plumped up to your liking, sew up his bum.

Add whatever accessories you wish, and before you know it they will start multiplying like, well, BUNNIES!

Admit it, this was easy.  And since they are just so darn cute, make a bunch more!

 And then take them outside and parade them around.

No? Just me.  

That's alright.  My kids have already loved them to pieces.

Literally.

Next bunch might need to be reinforced!

So "hop" on over to your sewing machine and whip up a few long-eared friends.

I bet you can't make just one ;)

New Fabric Friday

Nobody freak out....

Never mind, EVERYONE freak out!

The CHEVRONS are here!!!!

I would like to think that you are dancing around and squealing with delight!

Like I did when I opened the box.

We are already almost sold out of a few colors, but don't worry, we have another shipment coming next week. If you see one, or two, or just love them all, don't hesitate....they wont last for long!

Also new in the shop this week is

Peak Hour

We are still waiting for that cute Blue Circles print, it will be here next week too!

 

I have been busy this week, working on a few little Easter goodies, and I hope to be back with the tutorial for you all in a few days.

 Have a great weekend!

New Fabric Friday

(Sorry about the crazy layout...Blogger is giving me all sorts of trouble today!)

It has been doom and gloom here in Idaho the past week.

Rain, clouds, rain, repeat.

You know how it goes.

Luckily, we recieved some bright and fun spring fabrics and they lifted our spirits!

Maybe they can do the same for you.

FLOCK by Thomas Knauer

 

 

I absolute love the colors of the Southwest!  These prints make me long for a life in the heat of Arizona. The orange and pink combo is fabulous!

And since Spring is in the air, and so is the rain.....

How about some of the most adorable rainboots
you have ever seen, on DONKEYS!

JACK AND JENNY by Laurie Wisbrun

 I know, so cute you could almost die, right?

 

We are still waiting on a few prints from this collection, hoping they make it here soon.

I am soooo impatient.

And we have also restocked some of your favorite Urban Zoologie Prints.

  

 

Those little birds can still your heart, watch out :)

Did something strike your fancy?

If so, boy are you in luck...

For the next week you can recieve 15% off your entire order!

The Little Fabric Shop is taking a little Spring Break and we
 would love offer you all a little treat as a thanks for your patience with us.

You can get the discount code during checkout!

Have a great weekend everyone, and happy sewing!

St. Patrick's Day Pillow & Cording Tutorial

Here is a little add-on to the Applique Tutorial!

I know cording is scary.

 I made a crib bumper with cording last summer and it was my first cording project.

This pillow is my second, so I am a beginner too.

Let's learn together, shall we...

St. Patrick's Day Applique Pillow With Cording

You will need:

1 Pillow Form/ or filling

About 1/2 yard fabric for the pillow cover, or enough to cover your form

Scraps for the applique

Heat N Bond

Cording-enough to go around your pillow

About 1/8 yard fabric for the cording

Thread

and a little bit of sanity ;)

I chose Heath in Green, and Painters Canvas in Cream

 

Okay, let's get started!

1. Figure out what you want to use for your applique and make a template.

I just used Microsoft Word to create the word "LUCKY" and then printed it the right size.  Here is my first mistake....print it mirrored image if you are using words.  You need them to be reversed.  Since I forgot, I just turned the paper over and traced the design with a black marker so I could see it through the Heat N Bond. 

Trace your design onto the Heat N Bond.

Remember, you want your design to be backwards at this point.

2. Iron your Heat N Bond with design traced on it, onto the WRONG Side of your fabric.

WRONG SIDE.  Got it?

3. Cut out your design. See, this is why we needed it to be backwards, so it would be right when turned over.

3. Find the center of your fabric for the front piece of the pillow by folding it half once, and then half again and making creases along the fold.  When you unfold the fabric, X will mark the spot :)

4. Peel the paper backing off your applique and iron it into position.

5. Sew all the way around your applique. I like to use a zig zag stitch, but you can do whatever stitch you would like.

Now get ready for the cording.

Don't stress....you can do this.

6. Cut the fabric you are use for the cording into 2" wide strips.

Sew them together end to end if necessary to make it long enough to go around your entire pillow.

7. Take your cording and fold your 2" strip in half around it. Get out your cording foot (Or any foot you can find that will let you sew super close to the cording) and sew a straight stitch all the way along the cording.

Leave a little bit sticking out both ends.

If you plan on stuffing your pillow, your front and back pieces should be the same size.

If you are going to make a pillow cover, yours will look like this, overlapping the back two pieces.

8. Place your pillow fabrics right sides together.

9. lay your cording you just created, with the cording towards the inside of the pillow, and between all the layers (front and back layers of the pillow)

with your cording raw edges sticking out the sides, start pinning your cording in place.

Lots of pins are the trick here.

There will be bunching of the cording in the corners, and that is A-okay!

Pin it your best, all the way around.

Dont' worry about where the two ends of cording meet, we will get there :)

 Now breath, you can do this.

11. Place your nicely pinned pillow under the foot, and move your needle as close to the edge of the cording as you can. Sew a straight stitch all the way around the pillow.

Be sure to go slow so you can catch all the layers

-the top layer of the pillow

-the cording layer

-and the bottom layer of the pillow

It's tricky, but you can do it!

When you get to the corners, don't FREAK! 

Just go slow, and bunch up the cording where needed.

Pivot with your needle in the down position to hold your fabrics in place.

You might need to remove some pins around the corners to make sure you going through all the layers.

You made it!

12. Where your two ends meet up, just overlap them and sew on.

I know it isn't the prettiest finish, but since I am new at cording too, this is the easiest way I could for see meeting the two ends. Maybe you have a better idea....go for it!

And as you can see, when I turned my pillow back inside-out, there were a few spots where I didn't get through all the layers.

Everyone makes mistakes, I just sewed those up by hand.

My corners aren't perfect, but it doesn't really matter. 

I still LOVE it!

If you have a better way, or tricks to cording please share!

I am always learning and would love advice.