Jun
okay so bunny amigurumi basics
Right so you’re gonna want to start with the magic ring because that’s basically how every amigurumi starts and if you don’t know how to do that yet just youtube it real quick, it’s way easier to watch than read about. I made my first actual decent rabbit back in spring 2022 when I was binge-watching that show Severance and honestly the repetitive stitching was perfect for that vibe.
The basic idea is you’re making a bunch of separate pieces – head, body, arms, legs, ears, tail – and then stuffing them and sewing everything together. Sounds simple but there’s definitely some annoying bits we’ll get to.
what yarn to actually use
I’ve tried this with a few different yarns and honestly Bernat Baby Blanket is really forgiving if you’re new to this because it’s chunky and hides mistakes well. But it makes HUGE bunnies which is fine if that’s what you want I guess. For more normal-sized ones I usually grab Lily Sugar’n Cream or Red Heart Super Saver – yeah I know people say Red Heart is scratchy but for a stuffed animal that’s just gonna sit on a shelf who cares? It comes in like a million colors and it’s cheap.
You want something that’s not too splitty. That’s the main thing. I tried making one with this fancy alpaca blend once and every single stitch the yarn was splitting apart and I wanted to throw it across the room.
hook size matters more than you think
Use a smaller hook than the yarn label suggests. Like if it says 5mm use a 4mm or even 3.5mm. The whole point is you don’t want gaps where the stuffing shows through. Your stitches need to be tight. My hand was SO cramped after making that spring 2022 bunny because I was gripping everything too hard trying to keep tension but you get used to it.
making the head
Start with magic ring, 6 single crochets into it. Pull it tight. Then you’re basically increasing every round until you get to the size you want.
Round 1: 6 sc in magic ring
Round 2: inc in each stitch (12)
Round 3: *sc, inc* repeat (18)
Round 4: *2 sc, inc* repeat (24)
Round 5: *3 sc, inc* repeat (30)
You keep going like that until it’s wide enough. For a smallish bunny I usually stop at 42 or 48 stitches. Then you work even (no increases) for several rounds to make the head tall enough – maybe like 8-10 rounds of just straight single crochet.
One thing that really annoyed me about rabbit heads specifically is getting the shaping right where it decreases back down. If you decrease too fast it looks pointy and weird like a cone. Too slow and it’s just a blob. You gotta do it gradual.
So reverse what you did: *4 sc, dec* around, then next round *3 sc, dec*, then *2 sc, dec*, etc. Stuff it BEFORE you close it up completely because trying to stuff through a tiny hole is impossible.
the stuffing situation
Use polyfil stuffing, the cheap stuff from any craft store works fine. Pack it in there really well but not so tight it stretches the stitches out. You want it firm but not like rock hard. My cat kept trying to steal the stuffing every time I made one of these which was… distracting.
body is basically the same deal
The body is just another ball shape, sometimes people make it oval or egg-shaped. Start same way with magic ring, increase up to whatever size looks proportional to your head. I usually make the body slightly bigger around than the head got.
If you want an oval body you increase up to your max size faster, then work even for more rounds before decreasing. Like:
Increase rounds 1-6 to get to 36 stitches
Then work even (just 36 sc around) for like 12-15 rounds
Then decrease back down
Stuff it same as the head. Leave the top open for now because you’ll sew the head onto it later.
ears are weirdly the hardest part
Okay so rabbit ears seem like they’d be easy because they’re just long oval shapes right? Wrong. They’re floppy and annoying and getting two of them to look the same size is harder than it should be.
I usually do them flat instead of in the round. Chain like 6, then sc back down the chain, chain 1 turn, sc back up. Keep going back and forth, and every few rows do an increase on each end so it gets wider. Then after it’s wide enough stop increasing and just work even to make it longer. Then decrease back down to a point.
Some patterns tell you to make them in the round like little tubes but then they stick straight up unless you wire them and I can’t be bothered with that honestly.
You need two ears obviously. Try to count your rows so they match. I never do and then spend forever trying to figure out which one to frog and redo.
arms and legs
These are small tubes. Magic ring with 6 sc, then either increase slightly for the paw part or just keep it at 6 stitches around and work up for however long you want the arm to be.
For legs you might want to increase more at the bottom for a foot shape. Like go up to 12 stitches for a few rounds then decrease back to 6 or 8 and continue up for the leg part.
I made four legs once instead of just doing two legs and a flat bottom because I thought it would look cuter and honestly it did but it was also way more sewing at the end. You can do the body with a flat bottom if you want it to sit better – just make the bottom of the body oval and don’t decrease it all the way closed.
Stuff the arms and legs but not too firmly or they won’t pose right. Like you want them a little bit floppy.
the tail is just a pompom basically
Make a small ball. Magic ring, 6 sc, increase to 12, maybe one round of 12, then decrease back down and stuff it lightly. Sew it on the back. Some people make them bigger and fluffier but I think that looks weird unless you’re going for like a cartoon style bunny.
You could also just make an actual pompom with yarn if you – actually that might look better now that I think about it but I’ve always just crocheted a little ball.
assembly is where it either comes together or falls apart
This is the part I was complaining about earlier. Sewing everything together takes FOREVER and if you don’t position things right it looks drunk.
Use the same yarn you crocheted with and a yarn needle. Sew the head to the body first – I put a few pins in to hold it where I want it before I start sewing. Whipstitch around the edge where they connect, go around twice to make it secure.
Then arms. I usually put them on the sides kind of high up near where the neck would be. Legs either sew them to the bottom if you made a flat-bottom bunny, or to the front if it’s all round and you want it sitting.
Ears go on top of the head angled slightly back. You can sew them straight up or floppy to the sides. The floppy look is cuter in my opinion but harder to get even.
Tail on the back obviously.
the face situation
You can embroider a face or use safety eyes. Safety eyes are faster – you poke them through the fabric and snap the backing on inside before you close up the head. They come in different sizes, I usually use 9mm or 12mm depending on how big the bunny is.
Put them kind of low on the face and far apart. Rabbits have eyes on the sides of their heads but for amigurumi you want them more forward or it looks weird.
For the nose I just do a little triangle with pink or black yarn, or sometimes three little stitches in a Y shape. You can embroider a mouth too if you want but I usually skip that because it often makes them look creepy instead of cute.
random tips that might help
Count your stitches. Every round. I know it’s annoying but you will mess up and not notice until six rounds later otherwise.
Use stitch markers. The little plastic ones or even just a piece of different color yarn looped through to mark the beginning of your round.
If your bunny is leaning or wonky after assembly you can add more stuffing to one side or sew through it to pull things into place. I had to do this with that 2022 bunny because its head was tilting forward and it looked sad.
Bernat Blanket yarn also comes in this ombre version that actually looks really cool for bunnies if you want a less traditional look. Makes them kind of galaxy-colored which is fun.
You don’t have to follow a pattern exactly. Like if you want longer ears make longer ears. Bigger tail, smaller body, whatever. That’s actually how I learned to adjust patterns was just messing around with basic bunny shapes.
common problems
Holes where the stuffing shows through – your stitches aren’t tight enough, use a smaller hook.
Lumpy stuffing – you didn’t distribute it evenly, pull some out and repack it smoother.
Pieces won’t stay attached – you didn’t sew them secure enough, go around again with more stitches.
It looks nothing like a rabbit – yeah that happens sometimes honestly. Add bigger ears maybe? The ears really sell the rabbit look more than anything else.
Different sizes than you wanted – this is usually hook size or yarn weight being different than expected. Just adjust and keep going, or start over with different materials.
how long does this actually take
A small simple bunny maybe 3-4 hours if you’re not stopping much? Bigger ones or if you’re new to amigurumi could be 6-8 hours. That doesn’t count the time spent frogging mistakes or redoing an ear that came out wrong.
The actual crocheting goes pretty fast, it’s the assembly that eats up time. Sewing everything together and weaving in all the ends takes like a third of the total project time which nobody tells you going in.
I usually do the body parts while watching TV or whatever and then save the assembly for when I can actually focus because you need both hands and attention for that part. Tried sewing while watching a movie once and put an arm on backwards, had to redo it.
Anyway that’s basically it – magic ring, increase rounds to make spheres, decrease to close them, stuff everything, sew it together, add a face. The specific numbers don’t matter as much as understanding that basic structure because then you can make any size bunny or adjust any pattern you find online.
