Girl’s bunny handbag

Fluffy textured yarns are great for kids' knits as they not only have the novelty factor but are super soft too. Sirdar Snowflake is a really fluffy yarn which is ideal for cuddly toys and the bunny on this project. The bag itself is really simple to knit and you can easily adjust the length of the strap to suit your needs.

Using 6mm needles and yarn B cast on 35 sts
❑ Work six rows in garter st Change to st st
❑ Work four rows Join in yarn A, carry yarn up side of work when not in use
❑ Rows 1-4: using yarn A work in garter st
❑ Rows 5-8: using yarn B work in st st
❑ Rep last eight rows until there are eight yarn A stripes Cut yarn A
❑ Using yarn B work four rows st st
❑ Work six rows in garter st
❑ Cast off

Using 6mm needles and yarn B cast on ten sts
❑ Work in garter st until piece meas 66cm or desired length
❑ Cast off

Fold Bag in half, pin one short end of Side strip to centre of fold. Pin and sew each side of Bag to Strip to form side gusset. Repeat on other side of bag. Fold remaining piece in half to form handle and sew in place

Using 6mm needles and yarn A cast on six sts
NOTE: worked from bottom to tip
Work in garter st throughout . K two rows
❑ Inc one st at each end of next and foll alt row until there are ten sts
❑ Work without shaping until Ear meas 8cm
❑ Dec one st at each end of next and every foll row until six sts rem
❑ Cast off

NOTE: worked from top to nose
Using 6mm needles and yarn A cast on ten sts
❑ Work two rows in garter st
❑ Next row: kfb in every st to end. 20 sts
❑ Starting with a p row, work three rows in st st
❑ Next row: * k1, kfb in next st, rep from * to end. 30 sts
❑ Starting with a p row, work five rows in st st
❑ Next row: * k1, k2tog, rep from * to end. 20 sts
❑ Starting with a p row, work three rows in st st
❑ Next row: (k2tog) to end. Ten sts
❑ Next row: p
❑ Next row: (k2tog) to end. Five sts
Break yarn and thread through sts on needle, pull tight and fasten off

Sew up centre back seam of Head, add stuffing before closing. Flatten on one side so it sits correctly on front of Bag. Using picture as a guide, embroider face. Stitch an inverted ‘Y’ to make nose and mouth, make French knots for eyes and use straight stitches for eyebrows. Sew Ears to top of Head. Add ribbon rose embellishment to top of Head as shown.Place Head onto front of Bag and oversew around edges to attach.

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