

According to Lunar Calendar and Chinese astrology, the world has entered into Rabbit year starting from this spring (立春 in Chinese), that’s today, February 4th, 2011. As a memento of the year, I made some bunny sachets. I filled them with silica gel (in bead form) and turn them into desiccant bags for my metal notions stored in the glass bottles. The silica bead will help in controlling the humidity in the glass bottle, hence to protect the metal from oxidation and degradation.

This project is ideal if you have a lot of fabric scraps that you want to de-stash. It is quick and easy to sew, I am able to complete a dozen of them within hours including taking photos for all the steps.

This bunny sachet pattern is not confined only as a desiccant bag, you can fill it with other ingredients and turn it into a personal amenity, for example:

1. Scented sachet, if filled with Potpourri (a great gift for this coming Valentines)

2. Sleep pillow, if filled with dried chamomile & lavender flowers in a bigger bunny poly-fill (perfect as a baby shower gift)

3. Heat bag, if filled with rice or wheat and herbs which to be heated up in a microwave oven (for medical purpose)

4. Shoe freshener, if filled with activated carbon or charcoal (as shown below, best use in summer)

Bunny Sachet Sewing Pattern

Pattern: Download bunny pattern in pdf format.

Material:

1. Fabric or scraps (2 1/4″ x 3″ – 2 pcs. for mini bunny, 4 1/2″ x 6″ – 2 pcs. for large bunny)

2. Sachet filling ingredient – silica bead, activated charcoal, or scented potpourri, etc.

3. Ribbon, lace, yarn or cord

4. Fusible web (for large bunny)

5. Embroidery floss (for large bunny)

Tools:

1. Sewing machine

2. Sewing kits

3. Iron

4. Printer & letter size paper

5. Pencil or fabric marker

6. Blunt point tweezers

Download the bunny pattern in pdf format. Print it out onto Letter size paper. Don’t scale the printing if you wish to have the full-size pattern.

Get the latest Acrobat pdf reader if you can’t download the pattern.

Cut the paper pattern and trace it on the wrong side of your chosen fabric.

Mark a minimum 1″ opening on the side seam.

Start from one of the opening markings, sew along the sewing line and end at another opening marking.

Trim the seam allowance to 1/8″ for the mini bunny, 3/8″ for the large bunny.

Clip and notch at the curves on the seam.

Insert the blunt tweezers from the opening and grab one of the ears.

Pull the ear out through the opening.

Repeat the same to the other ear. Use the tweezers to adjust the seam and smooth the curvature.

Turn the face and smooth all the curvatures. Press with a warm iron to smooth crumples.

For large bunny, trace bunny’s face to the fusible web (paper side), cut out and iron the adhesive side to the wrong side of the face fabric.

Peel off the paper from the fusible web. Embroidery the facial features.

Cut fabric. With adhesive side down, iron the face onto the large bunny.

Roll a piece of paper into a cone, cut at the sharp point to make a funnel mouth. Insert the mouth into the opening. Fill the bunny with your chosen ingredient. For this instant, I filled it with silica beads.

You may omit the funnel if you are filling it with scented potpourri, use tweezers to fill it instead.

Close the opening by sewing with a slip or ladder stitch.

Shake the bunny so that the ingredients fall to the bottom part.

Tie the ears together with sewing thread, adjust while you pull the thread to gather.

Finally, tie your preferred ribbon or yarn to the thread.

~~Done~~