Our playful creature is never alone -- he has two smiling faces that are best buddies! This cheerful pattern is a great beginner/intermediate sewing project, and you can embellish it as much as you want.

MATERIALS

cotton stuffing
embroidery thread in a color that will stand out on your fabric 

embroidery needle

1 fat quarter OR one 1/2 yard of two different cotton fabrics (We used bright floral prints from Denyse Schmidt, Heather Bailey, Alexander Henry, and Darlene Zimmerman's Little Darlings 4)

machine sewing thread

scissors 

 
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Best Bunny is about 10 inches tall. 

 
PATTERN
Here is the free Best Bunnies Pattern pdf. 

Wash and press both fabrics.  From Fabric A cut:
one 6.5-inch strip
one 3-inch strip.

From the 6.5-inch strip cut one 7.5-inch piece. From the 3-inch strip cut two 7.5-inch pieces.
Repeat for Fabric B. 

You now have two 3-inch x 7.5-inch pieces and one 6.5-inch x 7.5-inch piece from each fabric.

 
Match up one 6.5 x 7.5-inch piece of Fabric A with one 3 x 7.5-inch piece of Fabric A and B.  Pin right sides together one piece from Fabric B with the piece from Fabric A along the 7.5-inch side.  Stitch a seam.  Now pin the 3 x 7.5-inch piece of Fabric A to Fabric B along the 7.5-inch side and stitch in place. Press seams to one side.

Repeat for Fabric B 6.5 x 7.5-inch piece and two remaining 3 x 7.5-inch pieces of Fabric A and B.  Press seams to one side.  

Place fabric right side down on the table so that the skinny stripes are closer to you. Place the Best Bunny pattern piece on top of the fabric so that the printed face is at the top. Trace and cut out your fabric, then repeat for second piece of fabric.

Pin the two bunny forms right sides together, matching up stripe seams.  (If your seams are ironed in the same direction on both pieces, press one bunny form so that the seams are going in the opposite direction. They will fit more snugly together with the other piece and are easier to sew this way.)

Sew a generous 1/4-inch seam around the bottom half of the doll, backstitching at each end and leaving the mid-section of doll unsewn.  Sew around the top half, leaving a 2-inch gap in the mid-section unsewn. Be sure to back stitch!

Notch the curves and turn the doll right side out and press.

Stuff with cotton stuffing, beginning with the ears, legs, and arms. Sew up the side seams. 

Copy our bunny face or lightly draw your own onto the bunny (or just wing it!).  Using a doubled length of embroidery thread, stitch the face.  Secure the thread before cutting it by pushing it through the stuffing and out the other side of the doll; snip thread. Flip the doll over and embroider the other face!

You may want to do more than just give your bunny a face or two -- draw his ears or decorate his body. For a basic introduction to embroidery, visit our Embroidery Tutorial!

The only thing better than one new friend is a whole batch of them!  Here's how ours turned out.