DIY Felt Monogram Easter Basket

I am thrilled to be participating today in A Little Clarification’s Spring Fling, which is being hosted and organized by my adorable bloggy friend Claire!  What better way to kick off the festivities than with my very favorite craft medium of all time?

With all the purging we’ve been doing lately, this year I really wanted to supply my girls with cute baskets that would be easy to store after Easter was over. Obviously that meant creating them out of felt! Did you know that in addition the the little acrylic felt craft sheets you can also buy thicker, nicer, real wool felt by the yard in the fabric section? It is literally a whole new world of felted possibilities!

After perfecting the pattern (which I am happily sharing with you below), these simple monogrammed felt Easter baskets were super easy to assemble and personalize. You don’t even have to do a monogram–you could also use one of the Easter shapes from the printable template in this Easter bunting post. I whipped up two of these little puppies in about an hour and a half, which means you still have plenty of time to get them done before my birthday, er, Easter.

Each basket takes approximately 1/4-1/3 yard of felt, which means that even if you use the good 100% wool stuff, they only cost about $3 to make, or even less if you use a coupon. (Tip: JoAnn’s accepts competitor’s smart phone coupons along with their own!)

Here is what you will need:

printable Easter basket pattern

wool felt–about 1/4 yard per basket

contrasting felt for monogram

sharp fabric scissors

pinking shears

stick pins

sewing machine, thread, etc.

 

{Download printable Easter basket pattern here}

Step 1: Print & cut out printable pattern. I printed each page twice in order to pin and cut all at once. Please note that there are two different sizes! I personally thought the smaller basket was a little cuter but your kids may appreciate the larger size.

Step 2:  Arrange your patterns on your felt piece, then cut out as many pieces as indicated on the pattern. Be sure to place the handle pieces on the fold as marked! I trimmed the top edge of the side pieces and the handle pieces with my pinking shears to add a little zig-zagged edge.

Step 3:  Cut out your monogram letter. I don’t have a template for this–I just free-handed mine. If you’d prefer to do a bunny, chick, or egg shape you can get that template here.

Step 4: Pin your monogram to one of the side pieces, then carefully stitch along the edges to keep it in place. You can try to match your thread if you prefer; I simply use white thread for everything I sew so I don’t have to bother with swapping it out.

Step 5:  One at a time, pin your sides together on one side then stitch in place. Note:  If you do it as shown above, with the monogram facing out, your edges will be on the outside. If you’d prefer, you can also turn the monogram in so that your edges will be inside the basket. I tried it both ways and thought they were both cute, but I think I liked the edges on the outside just a little better.

Step 6: Carefully pin your doubled-up bottom pieces to the bottom of the side pieces, then stitch together. If you are trying to have your seems on the inside, you will want to do this while it is inside out. I found it was easiest to pin then stitch one side at a time.

Step 7: Pin the two handle pieces together and stitch along each long side to hold together. Pin in place to inside of basket, then stitch in a square to hold in place. Trim any excess threads and you are D-O-N-E done! Wasn’t that a piece of cake?