Chibi Sleeping Bunny with Bow Beanie Hat Crochet Pattern

free crochet pattern by cRAfterChick.com

I saw a stuffed toy awhile back that had the cutest sleeping bunny face.  I wish I could remember where I saw it. It was so adorable. Unfortunately I screwed up on the eyelashes and it didn’t turn out as clean looking as I wanted. I may switch to embroidery thread if I make another but here is the pattern to my design.

I don’t have a toddler sized head model so I apologize for not having the usual 3D pictures of how it looks worn from different angles.  I actually made this one for my niece to wear on Easter and just got around to typing it up.

Chibi Sleeping Bunny with Bow Beanie Hat Crochet Pattern Notes

Project requires:
White Yarn for Beanie Hat main color (or desired color) and ear back / outer ear trim- (I use a lot of Red Heart Saver yarn but any medium to normal weight yarn will do)
Black yarn for closed eye / eyelashes
Pink contrast yarn for inner ears and bow
“J” hook (6.0 mm)
Scissors or Yarn Cutter
Blunt large eye yarn / tapestry needle to weave in ends

Abbreviations used in this pattern (US crochet stitches):
ch – chain
st – stitch
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet (US)
dc – double crochet (US) 
hdc – half double crochet (US) 
hdctog – half double crochet two st together (US) 

Pattern Instructions:
*Note: This project is worked in the round on the base of a magic ring. If you do not know how to do this, please see tutorial here from: yarntomato on CrochetMe

The hat in this picture is made with my free Easy Peasy Toddler Sized (Age 1 – 3 Years Old) Double Crochet Beanie Pattern which you can find here as a foundation for the project. Want it in another size? No worries. Head over to Easy Peasy All Family Sizes Free Double Crochet Beanie Patterns to select the size of the free pattern you want for your project.

Hat Base: in main color white yarn
Use Easy Peasy Crochet Beanie Size of your choice. The hat in these pictures are of the Toddler size of my Easy Peasy double crochet beanie pattern set.
Once you have completed your beanie for the base you are ready to start on making your Chibi Sleeping Bunny hat.

Eye Lines (Make 2): using black yarn
Make a chain of 10.
Repeat for second eye line. Place to the side until needed for assembly.

*This feature works well on toddler to adult male sized beanie hats.  For newborn to 12 month sized hats, make a chain of  7 instead of a chain of 10 as step calls for. 

Eyelashes (Make 8): using black yarn
Make a chain of 4.
Leave a short tail long enough to secure the eyelash in place during assembly before cutting yarn and pulling through.  Place eyelash to the side until needed in assembly.
Repeat process for the rest of the eyelashes required.
*Note: You may want to opt to skip the crocheted eyelashes and try out some embroidery thread if yours aren’t coming out right. I’m not happy with how mine came out exactly so I will be trying the embroidery thread on next one requiring eyelashes.*

*This feature works well on toddler to adult male sized beanie hats.  For newborn to 12 month sized hats, make eyelashes of 2 ch each instead of the of ch 4 step calls for.

Ear Front (Make 2): using pink contrast color yarn
Row 1: Ch 5, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook and place 1 dc in each of the following 2 ch. Ch 2 and turn. (3 dc)
Row 2-3: Place 1 dc in first st and each st across. Ch 2 and turn. (3 dc)
Row 4: Place 2 dc in 1st st and 1 dc in next 2 st across. Ch 2 and turn. ( 4 dc)
Row 5: Place 2 dc in 1st st and 1 dc in next 3 st across. Ch 2 and turn.  (5 dc)
Row 6-7: Place 1 dc in 1st st and each of the next 4 st across. Ch 2 and turn. (5 dc)
Row 8:  Make 1 dc in 2nd st skipping 1st st in round, 1 dc in next st and dctog last two st in row. Ch 1 and turn. ( 3 dc)
Row 9:  Place 1 sc in 2nd st, skipping first st and sl st into next st.  (1 sc and 1 sl st)
Fasten off and put down ear front until ready to attach to ear back.
Repeat process for second ear.

*This feature works well on toddler to adult male sized beanie hats.  For newborn to 12 month sized hats, skip rounds 5, 10, 11 and 12.

Ear Back (Make 2): using pink contrast color yarn
Repeat Rows 1-9 from Ear Front step above but do leave a long enough tail of yarn at the beginning of your project to be able to sew your ears once assembled on to the beanie hat and do not fasten off at the end of Row 9 like with the ear fronts.
Row 10:  Place one finished Ear Front in front of the Ear Back you are working on. Working through both pieces at once, ch 1 before placing 3 sc in both of the sc from previous round, continue working a round of 1 sc in each st around the perimeter with 3 sc in each corner when working around until you reach 1st st in round. Sl st in to the top of 1st st. The 3 sc in top of ear curve and bottom corners will give the ear a more rounded appearance.
Fasten off.  You should still have the tail from beginning of ear back that you will use during finishing steps. Place assembled ear to the side until needed.
Repeat process for second ear.

Bow Main Piece: using pink yarn
Row 1: Ch  6 before placing  1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook and place 1 hdc  in each of the following  3 ch. Ch 2 and turn. (4 hdc)
Row 2: Place 1 hdc in 2nd st leaving 1st st unworked and 1 hdc in each  of the next 2 st across. Ch 2 and turn. (3 hdc)
Row 3: Place 1 hdc in 2nd st leaving 1st st unworked and 1 hdc in the next st. Ch 1 and turn. (2 hdc)
Row 4: Place 1 sc in 1st st and 1 sc  in next st. Ch 1 and turn. (2 sc)
Row 5:  Place 1 sc in 1st st and 1 sc  in next st. Ch 2 and turn. (2 sc)
Row 6: Place 2 hdc in 1st st and 1 hdc  in next st. Ch 2 and turn. (3 hdc)
Row 7: Place 2 hdc in 1st st and 1 hdc in next 2 st. Ch 1 and turn. (4 hdc)
Row 8: Working around the perimeter from where you left off in Row 7, work 1 sc in each st around, placing 3 sc in to corners to give a more rounded look before sl st back in to the top of the 1st st in round.
Fasten off. You don’t need to leave a tail on this feature as you will be using tail from bow center to secure this piece on to the beanie hat during assembly. Put to side for now.

*This feature works well on toddler to adult male sized beanie hats.  For newborn to 12 month sized hats, do the following instead:
Row 1: Ch 5 before placing  1 hdc in 3rd ch from hook and place 1 hdc  in each of the following  2 ch. Ch 2 and turn. (3 hdc)
Row 2: Place 1 hdc in 2nd st leaving 1st st unworked and 1 hdc in each of the next 2 st across. Ch 1 and turn. (2 hdc)
Row 3: Place 1 sc in 1st st and 1 sc  in next st. Ch 1 and turn. (2 sc)
Row 4:  Place 1 sc in 1st st and 1 sc  in next st. Ch 2 and turn. (2 sc)
Row 5: Place 2 hdc in 1st st and 1 hdc  in next st. Ch 1 and turn. (3 hdc)
Row 6: Working around the perimeter from where you left off in Row 7, work 1 sc in each st around, placing 3 sc in to corners t

Bow Circle Center: using pink yarn
Round 1: In a magic circle, ch 2 before placing 8 hdc in to the circle. Pull circle closed tightly. Sl st in top of 1st st in round. (8 hdc)
Make sure you leave an extra long tail on your bow circle as you will be using it to secure bow circle on center of bow main piece and then securing assembled bow on to the beanie during finishing steps before you cut the yarn and pull through. Put to side until needed in assembly.

*This feature works well on toddler to adult male sized beanie hats.  For newborn to 12 month sized hats, make a circle of  8 sc instead of 8 hdc as step calls for above.

Finishing off:
Starting from the bottom up, use the tail on one eye chain and yarn needle to sew the eye line in place.  Once your it is secured, pull yarn to inside of hat before finishing off. You can reference the picture above to see how I placed my own.
Next you want to use the tail from one eyelash and your yarn needle to sew the eyelash in to the proper place you desire or the closed sleeping eye affect. You can reference my pictures as to where I placed them on my own bunny hat.  Once sewn on, pull yarn to inside of hat and finish off.  Repeat this process for the rest of the bunny’s eyelashes.
Using the tail left behind on one of the bunny ears, use your yarn needle to secure the ear to the top area of the beanie in desired location with the contrast on hat. You can see my pictures for where I placed my own. You want to place them side by side like in my pictures if you want them to stay upright with the bow. I even stitched up a few st up the middle of the ears, anchoring them together to help them stay upright.  If you prefer a floppy ear look move slightly forward and apart on hat. They will flop forward on their own.  Once you have it in place, pull your yarn in to the inside of the beanie before finishing off extra length.  Repeat this process for the second ear.
Using tail from your bow center and yarn needle, sew your center in the middle of your main bow piece. Once securely in place, use rest of tail to anchor bow at base of your two ears as I did in my picture.
Now check over your crochet project for any tails or ends that you may have missed in process to weave in and finish off. Do so if you find any.

Here are some of the pictures I took to show how this chibi sleeping bunny character hat looks like once completed:

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