Work in Progress Wednesday 3/19

I’ve got a little something different for you all today.  No clothes…  Well, not for people, at any rate.  Interested??  I’ve been sewing for toys.  But not just any toys.  I’ve been bitten by the Luna Lapin bug.  I bet half of you haven’t the faintest idea what I’m talking about – right?  Well, Luna Lapin is the creation of Sarah Peel from Cool Crafting.  She’s a little rabbit made from felt, with a wardrobe and a bunch of friends, all of which can me made by buying the books, or the kits from her website.  I’d seen images on Instagram for a while and Sew Manju made the prettiest little coats for her rabbits.  I knew there and then I needed to make my own, but not necessarily for me.

I know of a little girl and boy in New Zealand who would love a pair of rabbits to play with, so I’m starting with one for each of them, with a nice wardrobe of clothes to go with them.  I’m also going to make a rabbit for my grand-nephew.  Yeah, I have one of those!

I started by tracing all the patterns from the book (for now I just have the original Luna Lapin book), then I made the T-shirt dress and the little shirt from left over scraps of fabric.  This is the other reason to make the rabbit and wardrobe – to use up those bits of fabric that are too small for kid’s clothes, but perfect for bunny clothes!  But I still needed to make a bunny.  I didn’t want to be spending any money on this exercise, so that meant no fancy wool felt.  But I did have a merino wool jumper that didn’t fit, perfect for felting!  I tossed it into the washing machine & let it do its thing.  It hasn’t felted as much as I though but would but it will do.

It’s a nice grey wool, and instead of floral fabric for the feet and ears, I cut some silver embroidered linen.  I like the effect with the wool.  I decided, as it hadn’t felted as much as I’d have liked, not to have the seams exposed, so sewed everything on the machine, using 5mm seam allowances where marked, and 3mm everywhere else where the oversewn areas would have been.  It was fairly easy to do, because the wool stretches easily.  So the legs were sewn up and then I folded them down in half to stuff them.  The only problem when stuffing something that stretches, is that it stretches!  So it can’t be overstuffed, I’d have had a very fat rabbit!

The sewing process was simple, the book is clear with good diagrams, so no getting lost or confused.  I’m so chuffed with how my rabbit turned out, I’ve decided it’s a boy rabbit, and have called him Bay.  But he needed a friend, a sister.  In the stash of toile fabrics, is the left overs of some wool I’d got from the charity shop, and felted in the machine.  I had thought I could use it for coats, but it didn’t turn out right.  That’s why it’s in the toile stash.  It’s pink, but I don’t see why we can’t have a pink rabbit, can you?

This time I’ve used a cute rosebud print cotton for the ears and footpads, it has relevance – this rabbit’s name is Rose.  But she’s not as easy to sew.  Again, I didn’t want exposed seams, but this fabric has no stretch, is stiff and thick, and doesn’t like turning!  I managed to stitch the bottom part of the seams on the feet and attach the footpad on the machine, then I turned that through to the right side.  Once stuffed it gave me something to hold.  From then on, I needed to handstitch the leg seams, 5cm at a time, stuffing as I sewed.  It took time…  The head is much better on this bunny though, because the fabric was firmer.  The ears stand up better too.

Once the legs were done, the rest was quick, the body shaped up well and the head was attached firmly and securely.  All I still have left to do is the arms, which I’ll have to do in the same way as the legs – yay! 😉  I have raided my stash boxes for suitable scraps to make more clothes for my bunnies, and I have an idea to make another in denim – but we’ll have to see.  Given how this wool sewed up, I think I’d have to have the seams exposed.  So maybe I’ll just make another in the grey wool.  In the mean time, I have bunny clothes to make!  They’re so cute!!

Author: Anne W

I love fabric, and sewing. And I could do nothing else but sew, all day, every day, if I could! View all posts by Anne W