Hipity hop

April 2, 2009 8:48 AM

Easter is nearly here and I am stuck at a crucial point in my Easter Bunny costume construction. How do I make myself an adorable fluffy bunny tail suitable for pinning to bunny-pants and sturdy enough to withstand vigorous hopping and chocolate treasure huntin'?

Must be able to be made of materials I can buy cheaply at the local craft store or supermarket, not online. I thought of cotton wool but that just seems like it will come apart at the first hop. Velour or fur seems as though it would be... flat. I want a nice fluffy pom-pom style tail. But yarn pom poms aren't quite what I'm looking for either. Too... wooly. Hope me Metafilter, or Easter will be lost!

Anonymous not because of some terrible craft shame, but because by ''bunny-pants'' I mean skimpy panties. And by hopping... well. You know. Like bunnies! Some of my real-life friends know my MeFi username and I'd rather they didn't ask why I'm dressing up as a bunny. Or worse, ask to see the costume.

posted by anonymous to grab bag (9 comments total)

I would get the velour or fur; cut it into a tail-shape; furry sides together sew up three sides; turn right-side out; stuff with cotton; sew to panties; post pictures and provide links.

(Last step is of course optional.)
posted by Bango Skank at 9:05 AM on April 2

Can you wrap the cotton wool around a light, hollow ball or something? Like a wiffle ball? You can thread a string through the holes in the wiffle ball so you have a solid attachment to your backside. Wiffle ball-size bunny tail with required fluff ratio and secure fastening mechanism for less than $3.
posted by 8dot3 at 9:35 AM on April 2

"Let Nature be your constant guide, live with it, study it unremittingly; make not a stroke with the pencil, give not a touch with the modelling tool without having it before your eyes; it alone gives life."

- Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

bunny #1

bunny #2

bunny #3

bunny #4 - maybe the best model


These seem to indicate that bunny tails are essentially flat, but with much long fluffy fur. I'd find very long, very fine fake fur, and sew it into a two-sided long isosceles triangle, with the most acute angle rounded. Bonus if you can make it white on the under side, but a darker color on the top side.

The way the tail is attached may be key. Notice how, in the better images, the tail is definitely angled strongly "upward", lending an aspect of perkiness that may be otherwise difficult to achieve.

Cute overload: boon to artists of the cute everywhere.
posted by amtho at 10:03 AM on April 2

I don't think a realistic tail is going to be cute or sexy... You really can't just order one online? They are only a couple of bucks... Otherwise, easiest thing to do is cover a foam ball with cotton.

On further thought, there must be a Japanese craft site that shows you how to do exactly this. They are super into the bunny cocktail waitress outfit. Maybe hit up the 4chan cosplay board.

Oh and, god bless you for doing this.
posted by danny the boy at 10:42 AM on April 2

Make a pompom

Any self-respecting Easter Bunny needs a pompom tail - all you need is a ball of white wool and a bit of cardboard. And once you've made it, and attached it, it will survive all sorts of bunny-like activities...

Enjoy!
posted by finding.perdita at 2:09 PM on April 2

finding.perdita has it! More wool = bigger pompom. Do it in front of a tv or you'll die of boredom.
If you use 100% wool and want to make a really big sturdy pompon, you might want to use a different and sturdiers piece of string to tie the bunch of wool together (the pice of string that you put beetwen the two doughnots that ties the wool together after cutting).

To make it easier you also might want to cut the doughnuts so that you do not have to feed the string through the middle ring. I don't know how to describe it well, go form a doughnut to a C shape, where the jaws of the C meet. There you can pass the thread through, so you can go round'n'round quicker.

To help you start you can secure the two doughnots and the pice of string between them with some tape. Thin 3M tape does not affect the fluffiness.

6" (15cm) fluffballs can be done fairly quickly.
posted by mmkhd at 2:25 PM on April 2

Mmmm perdita's link does not mention the string that ties the pompom together. This string makes making bigger pompoms easier.
Ok, make the doughnots, cut them so the turn into Cs with the jaws meeting. Take a sturdy piece of stirng and run it between the two C's so it sticks out where the jaws meet, secure it with tape.

This way you already have a piece of string positioned well to tie the wool together after you cut the loops.

/ | \ <-
| O |
\ _/

Two cardboard Cs on top of each other. The string runs around between them
and comes out at the cut that intersects the letter O here (see arrow).
The string of wool that will turn into the fluff is wound around the C-rings like in perdita's link

I shouldn't try to explain crafts with a limited english vocabulary while slightly drunk.
posted by mmkhd at 2:40 PM on April 2

And the circular shapes do not have to be perfect either. Just draw 'em by hand. It all evens out after trimming anyway.
posted by mmkhd at 2:42 PM on April 2

Needle Felting with wool roving is one of my hobbies, and at some of the larger craft or knitting specialty stores you can now buy the roving more easily these days than I could years ago, along with the little barbed needles and something to work on. You should be able to shape the tail as realistically as amtho suggests, or keep it round and fluffy for extra cutenesses. ">Here's a tutorial for felting a whole bunny - you could use the same technique to make the tail.
posted by peagood at 5:48 PM on April 2