With Easter just around the corner, I couldn't wait to plan the big Easter Egg Hunt

I love celebrating the big festivals and Easter is no exception.  It's an exciting time of year, when we can really enjoy the beginnings of the warmer weather and look forward to the long summer ahead.  Now I've got children, I really love putting on fun activities for them to enjoy, especially if it gets them out in the garden! 

We've done Easter Egg Hunts for the last couple of years, and my oldest loves seeking out the felt eggs she's helped me and her Nana make!  You can find a tutorial to sew them here - a great chocolate free option which is sill shed loads of fun!

To help with the egg collecting, I've sewn my girls a fun basket, complete with bunny ears!  Here is the video tutorial, and the written instructions are below.  You can buy the pattern to make the Easter Basket yourself from our online pattern shop here.  We would love to see your baskets once they're made! Do tag us on Instagram with #craftysewandso or share to our Facebook Group.

Happy Hunting!

Freya x

You will need:

1x Fat Quarter of fabric each for the outside and the lining.

1/4m Bosal Fusible Foam Interfacing or low loft wadding.

Scrap of midweight Interfacing for the handle.

Basic sewing kit and sewing machine.

Iron.

Optional – Heat transfer vinyl or scraps of cotton for bunny face.

All seam allowances are 1cm unless stated otherwise.

 Cut out your pieces, you will need:

• Two of the main bag pieces in the outside fabric, lining fabric and foam interfacing.
• Two ear pieces each from the outside fabric and lining fabric.
• Once handle piece from outside fabric and midweight interfacing.

1. Start with your handle; attach the interfacing to the wrong side of your fabric. Fold the handle in half long ways (with the long sides together) and press.  Stich along the long side and one short edge. Trim seam allowances down to 5mm, then turn out. Trim off the sewn edge then top stitch both long edges.  Fold under both short edges by 1cm, press and set aside.
2. Assemble the ears: with right sides together, sew both ears together. Trim seam allowances down to 5mm, and notch around the curved edge.  Turn out and press.  Top Stitch around the ears, then fold the base of the ear inwards to the centre. Press and pin in place, set aside.
3. Fuse the foam to the outside fabric and layer the lining fabric and the fused outer fabrics right sides together and sew along the top edges. Trim the seam allowance close to the stitching line and press the lining fabric away from the outside/foam.  Carefully fold the lining to the wrong side of the outside/foam, giving it a good press. The foam makes it quite stiff.  Pin in place, then top stitch 5mm from the edge.
4. Repeat with the other side, also sandwiching the ears in place. They should be centred in the middle of the panel, approximately 6cm apart, raw fabric edges aligned.  When top stitching this panel, move the ears out of the way so they don’t get caught in the stitching.
5. Open up the two main basket panels and lining, and lay one on top of the other, right sides together. The lining material of each panel should be pinned to the lining of the other, and the foam, outside panels should be pinned together too, making a large rectangle with the corners cut out.  Use pins to align the tops of the foam edges carefully.
6. Sew along the four long edges, leaving the corner cut outs open for now.
7. Then pinch together the corners, matching the sew seams and pushing the cut corners out to create a box shape. Sew both foam, main corners and one of the lining corners. Leave the fourth corner open to turn the bag out.
8. Reaching through the open corner, take hold of the opposite corner of the bag and pull through the opening. Be careful not to pull on the fabric directly around the opening so to avoid tearing or stretching the fabric.  Once the bag is right way out, gently push all the corners in to position and push the lining in side the bag.
9. Take the open corner of lining and fold in 1cm, tucking in the edges carefully. Top stitch closed close to the edge.
10. Attaching the Handle – Fold under the ends of the handle by 2cm, and pin in place on top of the side seams of the basket, with approximately 2cm overlap. Stitch around the four sides to sew a strong handle.  This bit can be tricky as there are lots of layers of fabric and foam at the side seam.  Try a longer stitch length, 3.5mm for example, and take it slowly.

Finished!

Now fill up those baskets with treats!