Michaels "Precious Bunny" pattern--finally finished

[greyhoundgrandma]

I am trying to make a stuffed rabbit from a Michaels Loops & Threads free pattern leaflet. I have emailed Michaels with my pattern issues, but meanwhile was wondering if anyone has made this rabbit?

 

http://www.michaels.com/Precious-Bunny/29702,default,pd.html?cgid=projects-yarnandneedlecrafts-brands-loopsandthreads&start=1

 

I realize this is probably way too complicated to just look at and have any ideas, but I'm hoping someone else has used the pattern and can enlighten me!

 

The first problem is with the body. It is alternating white yarn rnds with pompom yarn rnds. The pompom yarn is fastened off at the end of rnd 22. This leaves 5 rounds of white for the shoulder decrease area which looking at the photo, can't be right.

 

The head seems small for the body. It doesn't say if the beginning white area or the ending white area is the face or the back of the head. A separate "face" is crocheted and sewn on, so I'm guessing the end, since it gives no instructions for closing the head up. In the photo the face seems to have shape, but the instructions are for a round piece. It looks like it would be a lot easily to sew this on before the head is sewn to the body, but maybe it's an issue of getting it on straight since the head and the neck are different shapes and look to be lots of fun to get sewn together!

 

Last, the instructions call for making 4 "leg/arm" pieces, but in the photo the arms definitely look smaller than the legs.

 

Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated! If the rabbit hadn't been requested by my DIL (first grandchild in July), I would chunk it out the door!!

 

[#1Crochetfan]

I actually think it is so cute that I can see why DIL would like this. I haven't tried the pattern but by looking at the instructions can understand your problems.

1- body problem: looks like it starts with white(top of body) and ends with white which makes that the body bottom. When ending the body make sure you place enough stuffing before closing it up.

2- head problem: The top is where you begin in white. The bottom is white. When you ladder stitch or whip stitch the head to the body, they will both be the white parts so you won't really see them. Yes, you will see the top white part of the head, but this will be an aid for where you will place the ears and won't be that noticeable once the ears are sewed on.

 

The white face where you will be making features, can probably be placed onto the head either before you put the head on the body or afterward. If you do the face before, and it falls lower or higher than you want once the head is on the body, you just have to accept it the way it is.

The way I close my pieces up, is by weaving the long end yarn through every other stitch in the last round, all around,and gather tight to close. I weave this, further, in and out stitches throughout my piece randomly before cutting to make sure the end doesn't come out.

 

3- arms/legs problem: I agree with you that the legs look wider in the picture, but if you stuff them more firmly than the arms, the arms can look smaller.

 

Also, congrats to you and your new addition-to-be!

[greyhoundgrandma]

Wow! A totally different perspective! I was trying to do it with the body upside down. Actually the pattern does say "beginning at bottom". But the picture makes sense when you turn it over the other way with the open ending section on bottom. The beginning increases are the shoulder curve.

 

I'm laughing hysterically at what I was trying to do with the head. I was thinking it was going to be sewn to the body on a pompom side of the head rather than the white sections up and down! Now the separate "face" piece makes sense!

 

Thanks so much for saving my sanity!!!

[#1Crochetfan]

I'm so glad it makes sense now.

[greyhoundgrandma]

I got a bad mental block about working on the rabbit, but finally it's finished. I think I will officially retire from making any stuffed anything in the future.

 

 

There are MANY SERIOUS problems with the pattern. No corrections have been made on the Michael's site.

 

The open areas of the head and the body are sewn together, but there still seems to be too much white area showing, even after changing the pattern. I made the face (which is sewn on top of the pompoms) small; the pattern calls for one less row of pompoms than you can count in the pattern photo. I made the arms smaller than the legs, and made fewer pompom rows on the legs, too.

 

Here is the reply to my email to Michael's that was answered by Loops and Threads in case anyone else tries the pattern:

Hi Mona,

I received your information from the folks at Michaels and I am going to see if I can help! Please see my responses in blue below:

 

I am making the "crochet precious bunny" from your loops & threads free leaflet. I have several issues.

(1) The body. The pattern has yarn A (the pompom) being fastened off at the end of rnd 22 which leaves 5 rnds in the white thread. This is the shoulder decrease area which obviously has to continue having pompom yarn in it up to the "neck". Another observation is that the pattern doesn't state that the body is worked in continuous rounds as opposed to joining with sl st and starting the next round with a ch.

1.   Yes, you’re correct, please use the pompom yarn up through the neck area.  

(2) The head. The pompoms stick out over the first rounds of white and leave little area for the face. The pattern doesn't say anything about closing up the white area at the end of the head rounds. It looks like that area would leave more face space. The pattern doesn't indicate which side is the face. Also the photo looks like the face is shaped, not round.

1. The face actually is very small, and is not shaped.  The illusion of shaping is caused by the way it was stuffed.

I haven't gotten to the ears or limbs yet, but I have a question there. (3) Leg/Arm. The pattern says to make 4, but in the photo the arms are obviously smaller than the legs.

1.        For the legs and arms -  you can stop the arms at round 9 instead of 11, so they are slightly shorter, if that is the look you desire. 

Any enlightenment you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

[Katieallen311815]

Aww, it;s precious@!

[#1Crochetfan]

It came out sooooo adorable! You did a wonderful job on a confusing pattern. Don't retire from stuffies completely - as you never know, there are many wonderful patterns for stuffies that aren't convoluted. (Lol)