Spring is around the corner, so bring on the Easter crafts! You can make this easy no sew sweater bunny in an hour and add it to your spring decor this year!!
My toddler has been keeping me soooo busy recently and I haven’t had ANY time to do what I love (crafts, obviously!). I finally carved out a little bit of time to make this no sew sweater bunny (an alternative to the no sew sock bunny!) and it turned out so cute!
I was originally planning to make a no sew sock bunny (similar to my no-sew sock gnomes) using Dollar Tree materials, but then I was suddenly inspired to repurpose an old sweater sleeve instead. If you’ve seen my no-sew sweater pumpkins for fall, then you already know I am a sweater hoarder 😂.
I still used mostly Dollar Tree materials to make this no sew sweater bunny, so it’s extremely budget-friendly!
Here’s how I made this quick and easy DIY no sew sweater bunny for spring!
Supplies
To make your no sew sweater bunny you’ll need:
- An old sweater sleeve
- Dried black beans (could be replaced with rice or another dried bean)
- Small round beads (I got a package of beads from Dollar Tree)
- Fiber fill
- Rubber bands
- Ribbon (Also got this from Dollar Tree)
- Hot glue
- Scissors
- Burlap or thick ribbon (optional)
How to Make a DIY No Sew Sweater Bunny for Spring:
Step 1: Cut sweater sleeve off & flip it inside out
I cut my sweater sleeve off right around the elbow. The longer the sleeve is, the larger you can make your sweater bunny. If you want your bunny to have longer ears, you can just cut off the entire sweater sleeve to give yourself more material to work with!
After your sweater sleeve is cut, flip the sleeve inside out.
Step 2: Tie rubber band
Tie one of your rubber bands one end of your sweater sleeve to close it off so we can start stuffing our no sew sweater bunny!
Step 3: Turn sleeve inside out again
Flip the sleeve again so that the outside is on the outside again. The rubber band end will be the bottom of our sweater bunny.
Step 4: Fill with black beans
The first thing we’ll need to fill the bunny with is something that will weigh it down so it’s not super lightweight. This way, it won’t just flop over when we sit it upright. You’ll need to fill it just enough so that it will be weighed down.
I used dried black beans for mine since I still had some lying around from my sock gnome and sweater pumpkin crafts. You could also use dried rice, tiny pebbles, or another type of dried bean.
Step 5: Fill with fiber fill
After you put something in your no sew sweater bunny to keep it weighed down, you can start using the fiber filling to fluff the little guy up!
I got my fiber fill on Amazon (check it out here). It was a 10-oz. bag for a little less than $10. I still have a bunch of it left to use for other projects.
Step 6: Tie rubber bands
Once you have filled your sweater bunny’s body to your liking, you can tie a rubber band to close off the top.
Then, you’ll need to use another rubber band to separate the bunny’s head from the rest of its body. I tied this rubber band pretty loosely, but you can experiment with the size of the head and the tightness of the rubber band to see what you like best for your no sew sweater bunny!
Step 7: Cut fabric to create ears
Now that we have our no sew sweater bunny’s body and head created, it’s time to focus on his cute lil ears!
Cut the top portion of your sweater sleeve down the middle to create two equal sections. These will become your bunny’s ears.
Step 8: Shape ears & hot glue
Next it’s time to shape your bunny’s ears. This part got tricky for me because I wanted the ears to look a little floppy, but the material of my sweater was being difficult.
I used my hot glue gun to glue the ends of the fabric together so that the frayed edges would not be showing. I experimented a bit with twisting the ears to shape them just right, then hot glued into place.
Step 9: Cut burlap or thick ribbon pieces
I decided to add some additional features to my bunny to make it a bit more detailed, but this part is optional! I have a TON of thick burlap ribbon that I use for projects all the time (I think I got mine on sale at Michael’s, but here’s a similar one on Amazon).
I decided to use this burlap ribbon to create a little belly and ear pieces for my sweater bunny. I just cut an oval for the belly and some ear-shaped pieces for the ears.
Step 10: Add facial features & finishing touches
Your no sew sweater bunny is almost finished! Time to add the last pieces.
I really could not decide what to do about my bunny’s eyes at first! I thought about painting two of my beads black and using them, but I didn’t want to spend the time painting and waiting for things to dry. With my wild toddler, that was just NOT in my time budget 😂.
It suddenly dawned on my that I could use the black beans that I already had out for my filling! So much simpler and I think they worked perfectly. They even have little white spots on them, which make them look more dimensional and similar to actual eyes. I hot glued the black beans on my bunny’s head.
I used a little pink bead for my sweater bunny’s nose. I got the package of beads from Dollar Tree, but now I have a lot left over, so you’ll probably see them making an appearance in another project soon!
I hot glued my burlap pieces onto the ears and belly. I like how the burlap made the ears look a little more cleaned up!
To hide the top rubber band, I hot glued a small piece of my sweater sleeve around the top. I used ribbon around the bunny’s neck to hide the other rubber band.
Display your DIY no sew sweater bunny craft for spring!
That’s it! Your DIY no sew sweater bunny is complete. Time to add it to your spring decor!
This craft is an adorable no sew sock bunny alternative! I can see it working with a lot of different colored sweaters. I love getting to repurpose my old sweaters. It helps out with my spring cleaning!
After this project, I’m SO ready for some spring weather.
How did your sweater bunny come out?? Please let me know in the comments, guys!
Stay festive 😊
