How to Fold a Handkerchief Into a Bunny

The folding of fabric and paper is an ancient art and can be amusing for both adults and children. Folded handkerchiefs can be used for decorative purposes, gifts, Easter basket fillers or to use in place of ribbons on top of packages. Here's how to fold a handkerchief into a bunny.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Handkerchief
• Ribbon
• Polyfill or cotton batting

1. Lay a clean, ironed handkerchief on a table with one of the corners toward you. Think of this corner as "south" and the opposite corner as "north." Likewise, think of the corner to your left as "west" and the one to your right as "east."

2. Take hold of the north corner and fold it over top of the south corner, aligning the corners so they match properly.

3. Press the diagonal fold you have just made by lightly running your fingertips across it.

4. Unfold the handkerchief and place a 1-inch wide by 1-inch tall strip of polyfill along the center of the south side of the diagonal fold. The polyfill strip should be about 3-1/2 inches shorter than the width of the fold.

5. Refold the handkerchief as before, with the north corner on top of the south corner.

6. Roll the handkerchief tightly beginning with the "north/south" corners and ending when the handkerchief has rolled over the part containing the polyfill. Now you have a long "log."

7. Fold this log in half, keeping the seam side down and the rounded filled part on top. The west and east corners should be side by side facing you, and the folded part should be away from you.

8. 
   Top view of circular log bodies

   Measure about a third of the way down from the fold and tie a 12-inch piece of narrow ribbon tightly around the log and make a knot. The fold and both sides of the log down to the ribbon will become the bunny's body.

9. Grab the "west/east" corners that are facing you and pull them gently back towards the fold of the body. Tie the ends of the ribbon up around this padded part of the handkerchief to form the head of the bunny. Make a knot, then bring the ribbon around the back of the ears and tie a knot. This will help the ears stand upright.

10. Feed one end of the ribbon behind the left side of the head and the other end of the ribbon behind the right side of the head. Tie the ends of the ribbon into a bow under the bunny's chin and trim off the excess ribbon.

11. Spread out the west and east corners to form the bunny's ears.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your handkerchief is square, clean and ironed.
• When finished, you can embroider eyes, a nose, mouth and whiskers if you wish.
• You can also use pipe cleaners instead of ribbon to tie the bunny together.
• Make sure the filling you use is white so that it won't show through the fabric of the handkerchief.

Resources

• Keepsake Handkerchiefs
• How to Fold a Handkerchief