My sister gave birth recently and I adore my latest little nephew. He's such a cute little bunting that I love to crush and cuddle him. He reminds me so much of a little bunny that I thought to make him a cute bunny cap like they have in baby photo props. It's so warm he could wear it out when it's cold and look the cutest little bunny there ever was! This would also make a lovely little costume for newborns.

Step 1: Materials

Feathery Fleece

Fleece

pink felt

thread, needle

Sewing machine

optional - over-lock machine

Step 2: Ears

For ear template cut a rectangle about 6" long and 2.5 " wide.

Fold it in half length wise and cut a curve from top to the bottom edge.

Open up and place template on your fleece fabric and cut 4 pieces. Make sure to see that the fleece feathers are all going in one direction and cut.

Now fold the template again and cut about .5"-1" deeper. Open up and place on pink felt and cut 2.

Place 2 of the fleece ears right side facing each other and sew on sides and top. Do the same for the other pair.

Now turn inside out and bend wire and push inside the ear. place the felt in the center and sew. When sewing in the machine make sure that the bobbin thread is white and the top thread is pink. This way the the pink thread will not show in the back. Now the wire is secure inside. Make loops on edges and tuck it inside. About 1" from the bottom of the ear, Crunch up the edges of the ear and sew close.

Your Bunny ears are ready!

Step 3: Cap

I took my nephews cap as a template. I opened up the folded area so that the sewing allowance will also be taken in to account. Place on the Feathery Fleece and cut 2. I took it larger as this does not stretch as the cap fabric. So it needs to be larger. So I took it about 8" wide and 6" long.( This might seem too long but trust me you need it this way for the bottom of the ears to need some place. This was my 2nd attempt as the first was too short!!)

As this fabric was very slippery I used iron on fusing and then over locked right round so that the feathers will not come out while I was sewing. If you don't have an over lock machine, you can skip this step as when you sew the edges the feathers will not come out.

Place one of the feathery caps right side facing up. Now place your ears how you want it and pin it down. Now place the other part of the cap on top with the right side facing down. Sew the sides by machine but do the ear part by hand as you risk breaking your machine needle. Make sure to tack the ears where it is crunched up. Do not cut the sticking out part as this will help the ears to stick up, but make sure the wire edge is facing side ways our up as we do not want anything pricking our baby do we??. (In my first attempt I sewed from the edge and the ears just flopped down. So after experimenting this is what I found out :-) )

Now turn it right side out and cut the front in a curve so that the center height from center is about 3.5".

You could if you prefer cut the front this way from the start.

Now for the lining-

You could use an existing stretchy cap if you like or you could make another cap.

Again place your template ( my nephews cap) on your lining fabric ( mine was soft fleece) and cut 2. I cut it 8" wide and 5" high. (The one inch gap between the feathery fleece and this is for the bunny ears bottom to rest.)

Sew around leaving the bottom open.

Turn right side out.

Now place the right side of your lining edge to the right side of your feathery cap. Slowly sew the edges about 3/4 way around. You will have to stuff the ears in side to make it easier to sew.

One you sew 3/4 way of the cap, remove the ears out and then sew close the edges . You might have to gather the feathery cap a bit sometimes near the front curve, but it would be hardly noticeable because of the fabric.

Your cap is done!

You can stop here if you only want a cap. But how about making the bunting looking like a real bunny with a fluffy tail and all??

Step 4: Tail

To make the tail, just place a tea saucer on the feathery fabric as template. Draw and cut

Sew the edges so it would not fray. Now do a running stitch around and gather it. Fill it with wadding/ batting.

Pull thread tight and close the opening. Tack it close.

Step 5: The Pant

For the pant I took my nephews pant as template. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of it. You could get the template from this tutorial . Else I will put up templates for everything later if you would like it so.

Place template on feathery fleece and the lining fabric. Cut 2 from each.

Place right side together on each fabric and sew the bottom.

Place both fabrics on top of each other right side facing each other and sew right round leaving a bit of gap to turn it inside out. Now just sew the sides close. There are other ways of doing the pant of course. But this is easier.

Now use baby elastic and stretch and sew around the legs and waist.

Now turn right side out and fix the cute little tail.