Easter Baskets to Make

With Easter only 6 weeks away, we have been designing some Mini Easter Baskets to make using small pieces of  felt and ribbon from our stash.  We celebrate Easter in a fairly low key way. We usually have a lovely meal with our family and share some little Easter treats. We are always dreaming up new ways to gift a small package of chocolate eggs. We had some sweet Easter bunny ribbon in our stash so combined it with some felt to make little Easter Baskets.

We found some coordinating polka dot ribbon for the handles.

The baskets measure 5 inches wide x 2 1/4 inches high, and are the perfect size to hold a little bag of chocolate eggs.

We shared our first prototype over on our facebook page a few days ago and had lots of requests for a tutorial. So here are our instructions to make your own Easter Basket.


Materials(for one basket):

• wool felt measuring 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches
• Easter Bunny ribbon - two lengths measuring 5 1/2 inches (we cut our ribbon at 6 1/2 inches and cut it later in the construction)
• polka dot ribbon - two lengths measuring 5 inches

1. Mark the mid point of the two short sides of the felt rectangle with a pin. Centre the ribbon handles so they are 1 1/2 inches apart. Baste in place.

2. Pin the Easter bunny ribbon along both of the short edges so that it is covering the bottom of the ribbon handles. Stitch the bunny ribbon in place along the top and bottom edges. Trim the ends so that it is the same size as the felt.

3. Fold the basket in half with the right sides together and the handles matching. Pin the side seams together. Stitch the side seams using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

4. Box the corners: Using your cutting mat as a guide, fold the side seams as pictured along the 45 degree line. Using a water soluble pen, rule a line across the base that is 1 inch down from the peak, and 2 inches across. (the grid on our cutting mat is 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch). Stitch along the marked line, and then trim away the corner. Repeat for the other side. Remove the water soluble guide line.

5. Turn the basket out the right way. Pin the opening together at each end of the top edge, 1/4 inch from the side seam, as pictured. Stitch through both layers from the side seam to the pin, along the top line of stitching. This will hide the side seam and help the basket stand in a boat shape.

The Easter baskets can be made in approx 15 minutes. The project is suitable for beginner sewers and is a great way to use up small pieces of felt and ribbon.

Variation:

In this basket we stitched the ribbon handles on using buttons, and stitched some felt flowers to the front, and finished it off with a button centre.

For more inspiration on how to package Easter treats, check out our packaging ideas post and our Easter Pinterest board. 

If you are looking for a great range of ribbons, check out Ribbons Galore.

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