Free Felting Tutorial: Needle Felted Bunny Ball, "Dot"!

Needle felt this fun litttle bunny ball, we call him “Dot”! More tutorials follow on needle felting Easter Eggs and needle felting  his best pal “Cheep”! This project requires very little wool. We used Living Felt MC-1 Merino Cross Batts in Cotton, and Sorbet, some black glass beads for eyes and some button thread.

Follow the standard directions for needle
felting a ball, you will use this technique again and again!

This is the ball for our bunny head, which also happens to be his body! Our needle felted bunny is very small, yours can be as large as you like! Needle felt this very firmly. Decide which surface will the face and which the bottom. Use your felting needles or multi-needle
felting tool to flatten out the bottom. For this projectm, we primarily used a 38 gauge star felting needle and a 40 triangle felting needle.

Pull off two small, equally sized tufts of wool to make the ears. Making both
at the same time helps to get the sizing to match. You will find this true
for most “pairs” whether they be ears, feet, arms or slippers! While
your final bunny ears may be small, pull off more wool than you think you
will need. The fibers will compact as you felt them. It is much easier to
shape the wool when you have enough to work with. Starting with too little
may leave thin spots or tips that cannot be properly felted.

Fold them in half length wise and lightly needle felt right in the middle.
Do not try to attach it to the foam, just tack down the fibers.

Fold the sides in towards the middle and needle felt them in place.

Needle felt all around the shape by felting at a very shallow depth and continuously
shaping the ears as desired. Try to avoid felting them to the foam, make sure
to needle felt both sides and the edges.

If desired, felt some pink on the insides. Remember to make very shallow pokes
with your needle so the color does not come out the other side.

To help decide where the eyes go, we colored two white tipped straight pins
with a black marker and used these as temporary place holders.

You can use T-tacks or straight pins to select the placement of the ears and
other body parts as needed.

Once the position is selected, firmly needle felt the ears onto your bunny.
Spread the fibers out and take time to blend them in well. A fine gauge needle
such as a 40 Triangle works well for final blending.

Needle felt or embroider a bunny on your nose.

Sew on the bunny eyes by running your darning or doll needle from the back of the head and out where the eye socket will be. Leave enough thread dangling out the back to tie a knot. If desired, you can needle felt an impression for the eyes first, this is best done with your 36 gauge felting needle. String on the bead and run your needle into the eyesocket and out the back about 1/8th of an inch from the entrance thread. Pull tightly and tie a firm knot. This will slightly inset the eye. Repeat for the second eye.

Cut the threads very close to the head, patch with wool to fill any indentation
and needle felt into place.

Here is our finished bunny, “Dot” and his best pal, “Cheep.”
Watch for a tutorial on Cheep very soon!