Bunny Bed

Welcome to the first of the Bunny Accessories tutorials! 

Today, we are making the bed. 

There are two sizes:

Solo

and Community.

They are both made the same way and, really, you can enlarge the template to make one for your dog, or pet elephant or whoever. Note that the templates do not include seam allowances. So add your own. I usually use 1/2" for my craft seam allowances.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

There's a free carrot template in there, too. We'll be making the carrot in the next tutorial.

Here are some finished dimensions - refer to the diagram for the symbols.

SMALL BED:
H = 2"
C = 18"
h = 1.75"
w = 2.5"

LARGE BED:
H = 4.5"
C = 34.5"
h = 2.5"
w = 4.5"

Step 1

Using the template for the base, cut out

• 2 in fleece (with 1/2" SA)
• 1 in batting (with 1/2" SA)
• 1 in canvas, or some sew-in interfacing (with 1/2" SA)
• 1 in fusible interfacing (no SA).

Iron the fusible interfacing to the canvas/sew-in interfacing.

Step 2
Make a sandwich of all 5 layers, in the order shown in the photo above. The interfacing and batting will be between the two fleece pieces. Baste (use the longest machine stitch) all around the edge within the SA region, about 1/4" from the edge, to make a composite base-of-5-layers.

Step 3

Cut the walls. These are rectangles whose dimensions are as follows:

• SMALL BED: 2.5" x 19"
• LARGE BED: 5" x 35.5"

which include the 1/2" SA.

Cut out rectangles in the following materials:

• 2 fleece
• 1 batting
• 1 fusible interfacing

Iron the fusible interfacing to the batting.

Step 4
Baste one of the fleece rectangles to the batting-and-interfacing rectangle so that

• the WS of the fleece is touching the batting
• they are basted together around their perimeter, within the SA region i.e. about 1/4" from the edge.

Also sew the short edges of this composite wall together (with RS touching) to create a squat cylinder as shown.

Step 5
Connect the base to this cylinder. Mark the quarter points around the lower edge of the cylinder (red arrows) and those around the base (black arrows).

Snip half-way through (i.e. 1/4" deep) the SA of the bottom edge of the cylinder (blue arrow) so that that straight edge curves easily around the curved edge of the base. Match up the quarter marks and sew around the base to attach it to the cylinder. This is the first of two sewing lines around this base; you may want to use a slightly narrower SA e.g. 3/8"so that this stitching line is hidden when you sew the second line in Step 7.

Step 6
With RS together, sew the short edges of the other fleece rectangle together to make a second squat cylinder. Snip the SA of the bottom edge. Make quarter marks around this bottom edge just as you did in Step 5.

Step 7
Turn the half-finished bed from Step 5 upside down and lay the cylinder from Step 6 on the underside of the base so that

• the RS of this cylinder is touching the underside of the base
• the quarter marks line up
• the lower, snipped edge of the cylinder are lined up with the edge of the base.

Pin in place and sew all around the base to attach it to the half-finished bed. This is the second line of stitching around the base. Use a 1/2" SA this time - it will hide the previous line of stitching from Step 5.

Trim the SA and pull the second wall down over the first:

Step 8
Mark the position of the entryway (use the sketch in the downloaded notes for dimensions h and w and shape). Baste around the top edge of the bed, including the outline of the entryway, to hold all the layers together. Then cut out the entryway and zig-zag stitch along the edge of the bed to compress the layers. This will make it easier to bind the edge. 

Bind the edge with a strip of fleece (or bias tape, if you prefer). Fleece is stretchy and does not require a bias cut in order to work as a binding. The photo shows my preferred method of binding, but you should use the method with which you are most comfortable. 

Here is a shot of the mitered corner of the entryway when the entryway is bound continuously with the rest of the bed.

This is another method to bind the entryway - bind the U-shaped edge separately, and then bind the straight edge above it.

Bottom view.

Random shots of bunnies in their beds- some well-behaved

and some not.

Catch my Flat Bunnies on Sew Mama Sew!

So, this is how long it takes me to make something.

Long, long ago, in the year 2011, we made a cardboard hutch. 

And I started to make a baby bunny for the hutch, roughly based on an old softie we had in the house.

And gave up.

Years passed.

Kate, once devoted to all things snow leopard and puppies, inexplicably developed a deep and abiding love of bunnies. Which she divided into two species: Flat Bunnies (which lay on their bellies like bearskin rugs) and Puffy Bunnies (which sat on their bottoms like teddy bears). And for her birthday last year, she requested a Puffy Bunny. Which she got. And the world was at peace. 

Then, recently, we read this book,

and Squish, the rabbit, reminded me so much of that forgotten bunny muslin from eons past that I decided to resurrect and finish him.

I found the softest microfleece scarves on clearance (50 cents!) and cut them up.

And stitched faces on all kinds of fabric (left column, top to bottom: corduroy, stretch terry, velour; right column, top to bottom: terry cloth, microfleece, interlock knit):

and made a bunny that was both Flat

and Puffy.

I'm sharing the tutorial for this little critter on Sew Mama Sew today!

But, wait - the story's nowhere near over.

These are children, remember. And a stuffed animal is never just a stuffed animal to a kid.

The first thing that happened was food. 

The baby bunnies, having been "just born", were starving, the children said.

So I had to make small carrots. 

Then the bunnies needed a place to sleep, the kids continued. Could I please make a bed? 

Okay. Not like there's anything really important to do in the wintertime, anyway.

What about the other seven bunnies, Mom? They need beds, too. Can you make seven more beds?

Scream. No. Let's cheat and make a large, community bed instead.

Awww. Look at those teeny paws. Bunnies are so sweet when they're asleep. Not unlike kids.

And they're somewhat crazy when they're awake. Again, not unlike kids.

Then, Kate decided that the bunnies needed to move house. And they needed bags to carry all their important stuff. So one afternoon, we made bunny totes.

"Also clothes, Mom". 

And the new house they're moving into.

So exhausting, isn't it? 

But just as I was about to collapse, I found this:

A bunny with her bunny.

Only a kid would think of it.

Suddenly I remembered all the things I would miss 

when these kids are all grown up. 

And it put all that exhaustion into context.

And made it worth it.

Tutorials for the various manic bunny accessories coming up next.

In the meantime, go make some bunnies at Sew Mama Sew!

Update 2021: Unfortunately, the Sew Mama Sew (SMS) website is no longer active. However, you can still access this free tutorial, as well as my other tutorials which had been featured on the SMS site - visit this more recent post for details and links. Happy sewing!