This crochet bunny basket is a great project to get you into the spring spirit! It would make an adorable piece of decor in a child’s room or for the Easter holiday. I bet using this basket would make egg hunting even more exciting!
I made two of these baskets so each of my daughters can have their own and plan on using them for a little Easter egg hunt. They are so excited about these baskets! It was extra hard to keep their little hands off of them until I was done taking photos!
Thanks to the super bulky weight yarn, the basket works up quite quickly making this project very doable in a day or a couple evenings. You have plenty of time if you’d like to make one (or more) before Easter.
This basket measures approximately 4.5 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall (without the handle).
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Materials:
- Super Bulky Weight Yarn – The basket and the handle are done in super bulky weight yarn. I used Bernat Softee Chunky in White. I’ve added some yarn substituting details in the Important Notes section below.
- Worsted Weight Yarn – The bunny face, ears, and tail are done in worsted weight yarn. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in White and in Soft Pink, as well as Bernat Satin in Gray Mist Heather.
- 5mm Crochet Hook – I use and love my Clover Amour hooks! I crochet a little on the tighter side and I used a 5mm hook. If you crochet quite loosely, it might be a good idea to go down a hook size, especially for the bunny face and ears so they fit on the basket well.
- Yarn Needle (for weaving in ends)
- Optional: Pom Pom maker for the tail. I used (and love) the Clover Pom Pom Maker, but there are many others out there for you to use, or you can also make them by hand using the yarn wrapping technique. There are many tutorial and videos easy to find online.
Stitches Used:
- Ch – chain
- Sl St – slip stitch
- SC – single crochet
- HDC – half double crochet
- HDC BLO – half double crochet in back loops only
- SC DEC (or SC2TOG) – single crochet decrease, or single crochet two stitches together.
Gauge
- 2” across = approx. 7 HDC
- 2” height = approx.. 5 rounds of HDC
Important Notes:
- This basket is crocheted from the bottom up. The basket base is worked up first, followed by the handle. Then the bunny’s ears, eyes, nose/mouth, whiskers, and tail are sewn on after.
- Some parts of this pattern start with a magic circle. To make the magic circle, make a circle with your yarn, insert crochet hook into circle and draw up a loop. Chain 2 and then work the stitches of round 1 into the ring. If you are unsure of how to make a magic circle, check out my Magic Circle Video Tutorial.
- To make color changes (only for the ears in this pattern, if you are following as written), work the last stitch of the round all the way up to the last yarn over. Yarn over in the new color and then join with a slip stitch to the first stitch of the round. Continue the next round in the new color. Changing the color before joining will help make color changes less visible.
- Always start the first stitch of the round in the same stitch as the chain 2. Chain stitches at the start of each round do not count towards stitch count.
- This pattern is worked in joining rounds. When you finish the stitches of one round, you will be joining to the first stitch of the round with a slip stitch, chaining 2 (or 1, depending on the part of the pattern) and then beginning the next round of the pattern, starting in same stitch as chain.
- If you’d like, you could try substituting the super bulky yarn with 2 strands of worsted weight yarn. This might give you slightly different dimensions than listed above, but should be similar in size. It would depend on if you are using a lighter worsted-weight yarn (like Caron Simply Soft) or heavier (like Red Heart Supersaver). Anyway, if you choose to substitute, see the gauge details above to help you with sizing. You may need to adjust the number of increase rounds or the number of rounds making the height of the basket accordingly.
- As mentioned above, I crochet on the tighter side. If you crochet quite loosely, you may need to go down a hook size, especially for the bunny face and ears so they fit on the basket well.
The Pattern
First, you will find the instructions for making each part of this pattern. Then, you will find the instructions for assembling this adorable bunny basket!
Basket Base
Round 1: In white super bulky yarn, magic circle, ch 2, 10 HDC into circle. Join to first HDC, ch 2 (10)
Round 2: 2 HDC in each stitch around. Join, ch 2 (20)
Round 3: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in the next, repeat around. Join, ch 2 (30)
Round 4: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in the next 2 stitches, repeat around. Join, ch 2 (40)
Round 5: 2 HDC in first stitch, HDC in next 3, stitches, repeat around. Join, ch 2 (50)
Rounds 6-11: HDC BLO in each stitch around. Join, ch 2 (50) *After round 11, do not ch 2.
Fasten off, weave in ends.
Handle
The handle measures about 11 inches long. Leave a long enough tail before making the starting chain. This will be for sewing the handle to the basket.
Row 1: In super bulky white yarn, chain 41. SC in 2nd chain from hook and in each stitch across (40)
Row 2: SC in each stitch across, ch 1, turn (40)
Row 3: SC in each stitch across (40)
Fasten off leaving a tail to sew onto basket (see basket assembly instructions later in the pattern).
Ears (make 2)
Row/Round 1: In pink yarn, chain 15, SC in 2nd chain from hook and in next 12 stitches, 3 SC in last stitch. Working on the other side of the chain, SC in each of the next 12 stitches, 2 SC in the last stitch. Change color to white yarn before joining to the first stitch with a slip stitch. Chain 1. (30)
Round 2: 2 SC in first stitch, SC in next 12 stitches, 2 SC in the next 3 stitches, SC in the next 12, 2 SC in the last 2 stitches. Join, ch 1. (36)
Round 3: 2 SC in first stitch, SC in next 13 stitches, *2 SC in next stitch, SC in next*, repeat * two more times. SC in next 12 stitches, *2 SC in next stitch, SC in next*, repeat * one more time. Join to first stitch with a sl st. (42)
Fasten off, leaving a tail to sew onto basket.
Eyes (make 2)
Round 1: In grey yarn, magic circle, ch 1, 8 SC inside circle, join to first SC with a slip stitch (8)
Fasten off, leave a tail to sew onto basket.
Nose
Row 1: In pink yarn, chain 5. SC in 2nd chain from hook and in each stitch across. Ch 1, turn (4)
Row 2: SC DEC two times. Ch 1, turn (2)
Row 3: SC DEC. Ch 1, turn (1) SC in same stitch, and in each stitch around the outside of the nose. Work one 2 SC into each of the corners stitches. SC in the same stitch you started, join first SC with a sl st.
Fasten off, leave a tail long enough to sew the nose onto the basket and stitch on the mouth.
Tail
I used a medium sized pom pom maker to make the bunny’s tail. I used a Clover Pom Pom maker, but there are many others out there! You can also make your pom pom tail by hand using the yarn wrapping technique. There are many videos on this online that will help you, but basically you can wrap the white yarn around your fingers a bunch of times (lots and lots of wraps), carefully slide the yarn off your fingers and use another piece of yarn to tie a tight knot around the middle. Then cut the loops on both ends, fluff your pom pom, and trim to the desired size. As an alternative, you can even purchase a craft pom pom and glue it on the back as the tail!
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Step 1: Sew the Handle to the Basket Base
Using your yarn needle, sew the ends of the handle to the top of the basket. First, line up one side of the handle to the side of the basket where the seam is. You will be sewing in and out of 3 stitches on the basket base to attach the 3 rows of the handle. Sew in and out of each stitch and back and forth a couple times to make sure it’s on well before cutting the yarn.
Next, line up the other end of the handle on the other side of the basket. Make sure that you are exactly across so the handle is in the middle. Once your handle is lined up, before sewing, count the number of stitches between the handles on either side of the basket. If your handle is in the middle, there should be 22 stitches on each side of the basket, between the handles.
Step 2: Sew on the Ears
Pick a side to be the front of your basket. This is the side where we will sew all of the cute bunny features (except the tail, of course!)
Line an ear up on the basket, a couple of stitches from the handle. Overlap the top of the ear a little over the edge of the basket and then use your yarn needle to sew back and forth through the stitches and basket a few times until the ear is securely attached. Be sure to just sew around the white area so that you don’t have white stitches in the middle of the pink part. Repeat for the second ear.
Step 3: Sew on the Eyes
Use your yarn needle to sew the eyes on to the basket lined up with the second round from the top. Make sure you sew in and out of each stitch. Weave in ends and then cut the yarn.
When the eyes are sewn on, you can add a stitch of white yarn to each of them to soften them up a bit.
Step 4: Sew on the Nose and Mouth
Attach the nose in between the eyes, but about one round down. I started sewing at the bottom of the nose and then went in and out of each stitch, ending back at the bottom. Then continue on adding the mouth features below the nose. I went over each stitch once so the mouth stood out more. Weave in end before cutting yarn.
Step 5: Adding the Whiskers
Next, in grey yarn, use your yarn needle to add 3 whiskers on each side of the nose.
Step 6: Sew on the Tail
Center the tail in the middle of the back of your basket, a couple of rounds from the bottom. Use your yarn needle to sew back and forth through the basket until the tail is secure. Weave in yarn tail before cutting.
Step 7: Sew Down Part of the Ear – This step is optional.
If you feel like the ears are curling up too much at the bottom, you can use a piece of pink yarn and add a couple stitches at the bottom of the pink part to keep the ear curling more in control, but still have that floppy ear look.
That’s it! You’re all finished! I hope you love your adorable Crochet Bunny Basket! I’d love to see it! If you share your finished projects on social media, tag @loopsandlovecrochet so I don’t miss it!
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