This will be my 5th Easter as a parent and ever since the first one I have relished getting my kids out into the garden for an Easter egg hunt. Admittedly the first year the Boy was not quite a year old so he didn’t do much hunting but we took him out all the same! I keep meaning to get dedicated bags or baskets to put the eggs into but every year I never quite remember to do it in time so this year I decided to just make my own bunny bags. And here’s the results! My easy Easter Bunny Bags DIY ♥
My Easter Bunny bags – perfect for holding loads of chocolate!
These are the easiest ever little bags to make. You don’t need a sewing machine, although it would make things a bit easier if you do. We’re not doing much more than sewing straight lines so this is a perfect beginners project! If you really really don’t want to sew at all you could buy a plain tote and add the ears and face on yourself.
Supplies
- 20 x 10 inch rectangle of plain coloured fabric for the exterior plus scraps for the ears
- 20 x 10 inch rectangle of patterned fabric for the interior plus scraps for the ears
- 1 length of cotton webbing for the strap or you can make your own using a 34 x 4 inch strip of fabric
- 2 black buttons for eyes
- 1 pink button for the nose
- a fabric pen to draw the face on, or you can use a disappearing marker to mark on and embroider the face
Easter Bunny Bags DIY – Method
First things first. I like to make sure I have all the fiddly bits out of the way as early as possible so I made my strap. If you want to make your own strap I’ve included instructions but you can use cotton webbing to save yourself some time!
To make your strap take the long strip of fabric and fold the it in half along the long edges and press a crease down the middle. Open the strip out and using that crease as a guide fold one of the raw edges in towards the middle and press again. You’re aiming to make another crease a quarter of the way across the fabric without pressing over the centre crease.
Once that is done repeat on the other side. Using your creases as guides fold the raw edges in to the middle and the fold in half and press flat so you end up with a long strip about an inch wide. Stitch the open side closed and repeat on the other side to give a nice symmetrical finish.
Next I made up the rabbit ears. You will need to make two ears for each bag which means you need 4 seperate ear shaped pieces of fabric. I used pieces approximately 3 X 5 inches long and cut them into ear shapes at one end. I also used interfacing on the gingham pieces to help give them a bit more shape, but this isn’t necessary at all.
To make each ear take one plain piece of fabric and one patterned piece and place them right sides together. Sew around the edges using a 2/8 of an inch seam allowance leaving the bottom edge open. Trim your seam allowance and clip any corners before turning right side out and press. I managed to forget to take a photo of the ear after they were turned and pressed – sorry!
Once my strap and ears were made I moved onto giving my bunny bags faces. I decided to machine embroider the faces on. You could machine embroider, hand embroider (I think back stitch would work best) or draw the faces on using a fabric marker (although a Sharpie would work too!). I folded the fabric I used for the exterior of the bag in half and pressed it so I had a square measuring 10 x 10 inches. I drew the face on using a disappearing marker and started at a point in the centre where the nose goes. I gave my rabbit a mouth and whiskers and then I machine embroidered over the lines.
After that I added the eyes and nose. I used a glue gun to attach my buttons but you could sew your buttons on by hand. I put the eyes approximately 2 inches above and 3 inches out from the centre point where the nose goes.
Once the face was in place I made the interior and exterior bags up. The interior fabric needs to be folded in half (right sides of the fabric together) like we did with the exterior fabric, making a doubled over square measuring 10 x 10 inches. The fold will end up being the bottom of the bag and we sew the sides closed leaving the top open. We need to leave a little gap on one of the sides of the interior fabric for turning the bags once they are sewn together. The exterior fabric is sewn the same way but without leaving the gap.
Once the bags are made up I tacked the strap to the exterior of the bag. The exterior bag needs to be turned right side out, so you can see the face. The strap and ears will be tacked to the outside of the exterior bag. Line the raw edges of the strap up with the raw edge of the bag and line the centre of the strap up with the side seam. Sew a tacking stitch close to the edge to hold it in place as the bags are being sewn together. Repeat on the other side making sure that there are no twists in the strap.
When the strap is in place tack the ears in place facing downwards over the eyes. I placed the ears about an inch in from the side seams.
Once the strap and ears have been tacked in place it is time to sew the interior and exterior bags together. Keep the exterior bag right side out and place it inside the interior bag wrong side out. You want the right sides of the bags together. Make sure that the strap and the ears are tucked neatly inside the bag! Use pins or clips to join the bags together making sure that the raw edges and side seams are aligned.
Sew around the top of the bag with a 4/8 inch seam allowance and then turn through the gap we left in the side seam of the lining.
Once the bag has been turned right side out close the gap with a little line of stitches over the hole in your lining. Don’t worry, so long as you use a thread that tones in with your lining it won’t be noticeable when the bag is complete!
The last thing to do is to press everything flat and if you want you can top stitch along the top of the bag. Now you have a beautiful bunny bag, the very final step is to fill it with loads of lovely treats!!
We got our Easter Treats from Marks and Spencers this year, as not only do they look the part – they taste pretty damn fine too! Only the best for our little folk ♥
Do you have any fab ideas for Easter makes? Do you love egg hunts as much as I do? Get in touch and let me know!
