Easter baskets for the girls

I've been a sewing maniac lately. I made the girls' Easter dresses last year, so this year I had decided to do the same. They took me a while - I used the same pattern for each and was quite sick of it by the third dress. =) I don't have pictures yet, because I want to take the girls out for spring pictures in them. But, while I was researching what I was going to do for the dresses, I ran across a picture of a cute little fabric basket that linked back to the tutorial for it. I fell in love with it and promised myself if I finished the dresses early, I would make baskets for the girls. I'm pretty sure that is what got me through the third dress. This time I worked on all three at once so I wouldn't get to the third one and be tired of looking at them.

So without further ado...


It is a little bigger than I thought it would be. I'm a horrible judge of measurement. The original design started off with 2" squares, and I made 4" squares. 3" squares would have been perfect, but these will work. I'll just add some extra tissue paper (I hate Easter grass). I decided against pastel Easter-y fabric, wanting to make something they could use and keep forever. And I changed the handle from the original design. My favorite part is the lining:


I love this fabric. I had bought some to bind a quilt (that still is just a quilt top...) and when I ran across it again looking for basket fabrics, I had to use it again. It reminded me of grass. Of course, I meant for the stripes to go up and down, but when I cut the fabric, I was so giddy that I had all three girls down for a nap at once, I forgot to pay attention to that. I bought way too much of all my fabric (again, that whole bad judge of measurement thing), so I have about a yard and some decent sized scraps left over that will most likely make their way into being a dress or something for the girls.

Now that I have the basic technique down, I may in the future make like a tote bag or something. They were fun to make and I wasn't sick to death of them by the end of it. Of course, I was anxious to move on to some other projects because I am a bit obsessed right now. It's probably a good thing Easter is next weekend so I didn't get too distracted by the dresses and other goodies I am wanting to make. =)