DIY Easter Gnome Tutorial
A few months ago I attended a women’s crafting day where we learned how to make sock gnomes for Christmas, and ever since I’ve been dreaming of other holidays to make them for! And since Easter is one of my favorite holidays to craft and sew for, I felt like an Easter themed bunny gnome was a no-brainer ;). So today I’m sharing a DIY Easter Gnome tutorial with you, the perfect addition to your DIY Easter decor plans!
Follow along with the detailed photo tutorial below, or if you prefer to learn via video, we’ve got you covered there as well!
I’m also sharing a free PDF pattern download for the ears and beard and you can find the link to access it below.
While these cute little gnomes are adorable sitting on a mantle as decoration, they would also be a fun surprise in your little one’s Easter basket.
Where to Find Supplies for DIY Easter Gnomes
You likely already have some or perhaps even all of the materials you need to make this fun and easy DIY Easter craft already in your house! You’ll need a (just one!) fuzzy sock, some stuffing, some faux fur, cotton fabric scraps for the ears, a bit of rice, and some pom poms. Oh, and a couple clear hair elastics that you probably have in your bathroom drawer.
If you need to purchase some or all of the supplies, Amazon is a great place to start, especially if you’re planning to make multiple Easter bunny gnomes as items often come in large-ish amounts. For example, I found this pack of fuzzy socks for about $12, which would make 10 gnomes.
Many of the supplies can also be found at your local dollar store such as Dollar Tree, which is super cost effective if you just want to make one gnome (but warning, they somehow tend to multiply and only making one is almost impossible!).
What do You Fill Sock Gnomes With?
I use rice to add weight to the bottom of the body when I make a DIY sock gnome, but you can also use poly pellets or dry beans, or really anything else that has some weight to it! It will help the gnome stand up and stay in place.
Above the rice is fiber fill (Polyfil is a common brand name) to give the gnome its plump and squishy body.
No Sew Easter Gnome
The only sewing for this tutorial is when we create the ears, but you can easily make it a no sew sock gnome by substituting the fabric ears with felt, as it can be cut in single layer and doesn’t need the edges finished.
Looking for More Easter Crafting and Sewing Inspiration?
I wasn’t joking when I said I looove to create DIY Easter craft and sewing projects! Here are a few you might enjoy too:
Bunny Bag Free Pattern
Bunny Backpack Free Pattern
Hipster Bunny Shirt Tutorial
Faux Chenille Bunny Free Pattern
Bunny Silhouette Fabric Wall Art
How to Make a DIY Sock Gnome for Easter
Supplies: (affiliate links below)
1 fuzzy sock – this set was perfect for Easter
optional: extra old sock to line Gnome body and help contain rice (useful if sock is one layer or loosely knit)
3 pom poms – 1 small and 2 large for nose, hat, and tail
cotton fabric scraps (or can use felt for a no-sew DIY Easter gnome) for ears
fusible interfacing scraps for bunny ears
shaggy faux fur for beard
1/2 cup rice (dry beans or larger poly pellets will also help with loosely knit socks)
fiber fill stuffing – couple handfuls
2 clear elastic hair ties
hot glue gun and glue sticks
printable template/pattern pieces for ears and beard (see below to order) – print at 100%
ACCESS FREE PDF PATTERN DOWNLOAD HERE (read info below before ordering).
Follow the checkout process at the link above (no payment info will be asked for), and once that’s complete you’ll automatically be emailed the download link (be sure to check your junk mail if you don’t see it in your inbox and that you spelled your email address correctly)!
Once ordered, you can also access the pattern downloads via your account by logging into your account under the “shop” tab of our site). As an FYI, entering your email address on our newsletter signup form is not how you access our free pattern downloads (although I always give our newsletter subscribers heads up to our newest patterns!).
DIY Easter Gnome Video Tutorial
Love learning through video? Follow along below or watch the video tutorial on our YouTube channel HERE.
Create Gnome Body and Hat
Begin by cutting one sock into 3 pieces as pictured, perpendicular to each sock edge. The middle triangle can be discarded.
The toe side of the sock will be our DIY Easter Bunny Gnome body. Place 1/2 cup rice (you can use up to 1 cup to add even more weight) into the to area of the sock. This will help the gnome stand on it’s own.
Optional: If your sock is singly layered and loosely knit and rice will be able to slip through the holes easily, you can cut one of those mysterious single socks you have laying around your house to the same size as the body sock and line the gnome body with it before adding the rice. You can also substitute the rice with a larger weight material such as dry beans or poly pellets.
Add fiber fill to the gnome body, stuffing firmly. Use clear rubber band to tie off open end of body.
The remaining top of the sock piece will be bottom of the gnome hat, with the finished edge of the sock being the hat brim. Turn piece inside out and use clear rubber band to tie off top close to raw edges.
Turn gnome hat right side out and add a small amount of fiber fill to the hat to give it structure.
You now have the gnome body and hat ready and can set it aside until later, while we make the ears!
Create Gnome Ears and Cut Faux Fur Beard
Print pattern piece (free download available above by following instructions under the “supplies” section) at 100% and check 1″ test square for printing accuracy. Use pattern pieces to cut out fabric scraps, interfacing, and beard as instructed on pattern pieces.
For No-Sew Ears: You can make this DIY Easter Bunny Gnome project no-sew by simply using felt for the ears. To do this, cut only 2 ear pieces from felt and eliminate the interfacing, trimming 1/4″ off the curved edges since you won’t need a seam allowance.
When cutting the beard, it’s helpful to trace the pattern piece onto the back (non-fur side) of the faux fur. Then, either separate the fur along all the cut lines while cutting with your scissors, or brush the fur toward the center of the beard, away from each cutting line to avoid cutting the long strands of beard.
You’ll have 4 fabric ear pieces, 2 interfacing ear pieces, and 1 beard piece. I like to roughly trim 1/8-1/4″ from the edges of the interfacing for ease in fusing and to reduce bulk.
Fuse interfacing to wrong side of 2 ear pieces.
Right sides together, stitch one interfaced ear piece to one non-interfaced ear piece using 1/4″ seam allowance and leaving the top short edge open.
Trim seam allowance on each ear to 1/8″, turn right side out, and press flat along seams.
Assemble DIY Easter Gnome
It’s time to put all of our Easter Bunny Gnome pieces together!
First, place the beard near the top of the gnome body as desired. It’s helpful to try the hat on as well to ensure you are happy with the beard placement. Use a glue gun and a thin line of glue along the top edge of the beard to attach the beard to the body. You can leave the beard long and stringy like this purple gnome or trim it evenly like the pink gnome in the photos shared earlier in this post.
Align the raw straight edge of the ears with the beard top edge, leaving room for a pom pom nose between the ears, and checking placement by adding the hat temporarily again and folding ears upward as they’ll be in their final position. Glue ears in place along raw edge.
Place hat over body, covering top edges of beard and ears and pulling down slightly lower in the back. Use glue gun to glue sides and center back of hat in place first, and then add in more glue around the rest of the hat/body to finish attaching the hat.
It can be helpful to let the first areas of glue dry first before adding more as it helps to avoid the hat moving out of place while the glue is still soft.
Glue small pom pom between ears at base of hat to create our DIY gnome nose.
Glue a medium/large pom pom to top of hat. You’re almost done this DIY Easter gnome tutorial!
Fold ears upward and use glue gun along inner center of ear to fuse to the hat.
Lastly, glue a large pom pom to the backside of Easter bunny gnome to create the tail!
And there you have it, a hippity hoppity DIY Easter Sock Gnome to add to your Easter decorations, complete with bunny ears and a cute bunny tail!
Now that you know just how to make a sock gnome, you don’t have to stop at Easter! The possibilities are endless for any holiday or theme. I hope you enjoyed this DIY easter decoration tutorial and free pattern. You can visit our holidays gallery for more ideas and inspiration for all your holiday crafts and sewing!