Easy Easter Basket Sewing Tutorial
Make a felt Easter basket in under 30 minutes with our easy Easter basket sewing tutorial! An easy sewing project using basic sewing supplies!
Yield: 1 (6") basket
Cost: $4
Equipment
- sewing machine
- scissors
- measuring tape
- pins
- marker
- sewing needle
- ruler or straight edge
Materials
- 1 12"x18" piece stiff felt for basket exterior
- 1 12"x18" piece felt for basket lining (interior)
- thread
- 2 buttons
Instructions
- Let's talk about the felt fabric pieces. For this project, you are going to use stiff felt and regular felt. You'll need a 12"x18" piece of stiff felt for the outside of the basket and another 12"x18" piece of craft felt for the lining of the basket. Note: If you aren't able to find a sheet of stiff felt you can use regular craft felt. The basket handle will be slightly more floppy, but it will work.
- Cut felt (both the outer and lining into the following pieces):1 (12" x 12") square for the outer and one for the lining.2 (1.5" x 12") strips for the outer handle and two for the handle lining (you will sew these together to create a long 1.5"x20" basket handle in the end).
- Sew the two outer handle pieces together on the short ends using a 5/8" seam.Sew two lining handle pieces together using a 5/8" seam.Open seams flat. You should now have two long strips of felt (one outer and one lining) that are 1.5" x 24" long.
- Place one basket handle piece on top of the others (with the right sides on the outside and center seams matching) and stitch around the perimeter using a 1/4" seam allowance.Trim fabric close to the seam with scissors. Set handle aside.
- Stack the 2 (12") squares, line up the edges, and add a few pins to keep everything in place. Note: if you are using patterned felt, make sure the right side of the fabric is on the outside.Machine stitch around all four sides using the pressure foot on your machine as a guide (3/8"). Trim the threads.
- Now we're going to make the bottom of the basket and sides by creating corners. To do this, fold the square in half with the lining (wrong side) on the outside and the fold on the bottom.
- Measure 2.5” on the bottom and mark it with a pencil or sewing pen. Measure 2.5” on the side and mark it as well.
- Connect the two markings with a diagonal line, forming a triangle. Repeat for the other side.
- Machine stitch along the diagonal lines. Fold the fabric in half the other direction and mark the other two corners 2.5” up and 2.5” along the bottom. Machine stitch along the diagonal lines.
- Cut each corner seam on a diagonal ¼” away from the seam using scissors or a rotary cutter.
- Your basket should look like this (see photo).
- Turn basket right-side-out, pushing out corners and creasing side seams to create a basket shape.Fold each flap over.
- Pin flaps into place.
- Thread a needle with matching thread and tack each side down with two stitches in the center. Tie a knot on the back and trim the thread.
- Decide how long you'd like the handle to be and trim ends (mine was 20"). Line up basket handle with bottom edge inside basket. Place a button on top of the flap and sew button into place, sewing through all of the layers to secure the basket handle at the same time. Repeat on the other side of the basket.
- Trim off any loose threads.
