Sweater Bunnies!

I love this one! Definitely on the list of 2010's favorite projects. In early December my friend was talking to me about gift ideas she was hoping to have me make for her niece. She described a toy her grandmother had made when she was young: A family of small plush bunnies that lived inside a zippered carrot. This had awesomeness written all over it, and I was super pumped when she decided to go ahead with the order.

The original bunnies were made of terry cloth or fleece, but when I found a men's cable-knit cashmere sweater vest in a thrift store, I knew what had to be done. The adult bunnies are about five inches tall, and the tiny baby is about an inch. Tiny soft pillows of cuteness! I think my favorite part about this is the dad bunny's shirt and tie. I cut the skinny end off of a vintage tie I found, then rolled and knotted it. I did consider that putting the dad in a tie might be a little heavy on the old fashioned gender role side of things, but I decided in the end that 1. the re-making of a toy made 20 years ago by a grandmother should at least hint at the traditional and 2. smart fashion is timeless, even if you are a five-inch tall bunny made of cashmere and corduroy.

I also love that the bunnies are housed in a carrot, which doubles as carrying-case and storage. I have this secret obsession with fake food which might be a carry-over from never getting that play kitchen I wanted as a kid, and maybe also mixed in with my insane love of actual edible food too. Either way, yay fake food! And finally an excuse to make my own. Yes!

The body of the carrot was originally a duvet-cover which I cut to my pattern and quilted so the carrot would have some shape to it. And since the recipient is four years old, I used a pretty burly plastic zipper so it'd be easy for her to zip and unzip. The last thing I did was stitch her name onto the carrot greens. I hope she has a ton of fun with her sweater bunny family!