Saturday 10 March 2012

dressing it up for Easter

I know it's a bit early for Easter but thought I would try to get a bit ahead since time just seems to fly by. I recently purchased an inexpensive easter basket and thought it needed a little something, so I decided to add a flower to dress it up. I used felt and two different types of ribbon. 

 

Here is how I created it.



Make a simple flower template in 2 different sizes.  It does not matter that if the flower template is not perfect.  No really, it does not matter. Have a look at mine, it's not perfect.

Cut 5 large flowers of one colour and 3 small flowers in an other coordinating colour (or the same colour as the larger flower).


Scrunch the ends of the flower and hand sew the end so that it stays put.  Do this to all 8 pieces.


Stitch the 5 larger flowers together.  I used a scrap piece of felt to stitch the flower end to and made a bit of a circle.  Once I was happy with it I made sure it was all secure and did not have too much space between each flower.


Stitch the 3 smaller flowers together. Make sure it's secure.  Have a look at the right side of the flower and see if you are happy with how the petals are sitting.  If not, make small stitched to help the petals stay where you want them to.  I would recommend using a matching thread in this case so that you don't see your stitches.


Cut 2 pieces of ribbon approximately 16" each in length. Stitch the ribbon together and then to the back side of the flower as pictured below. This ribbon will not be used to tied it to the basket, it's purely decorative.


Cut another 2 pieces of ribbon approximately 16" in length.  This ribbon will be used to tie the flower to the basket so if your handle is thicker than what mine was, you may need to make the ribbon longer.  Or if you want more ribbon hanging down, then cut more ribbon. Stitch to the back side of the flower like show above.



Tie flower to the handle of your basket.  I made my bow quite small as the ribbon I used was quite floppy if it was too large but you can make the bow as large or small as you desire.  Once the flower has been secured to the basket, trim the ribbons (if needed) to the desired length.  Mine had a couple ribbons that were a bit long. And there you have it, a cute flower to dress up a simple basket. Won't that child look adorable holding this basket as they look for their Easter eggs?