Happy Easter!

These little chaps are the finishing touch for our table at lunchtime tomorrow and I have to say I am very fond of them. Along with a few flowers they will adorn the dining table when my family arrive for lunch followed by an Easter Egg hunt in the garden (my fingers are firmly crossed for good weather).

I used a pattern that I discovered over a year ago in issue 3 of Homemaker Magazine.

I "Hope & Gloria'd" their basic bunny pattern by adding some vintage style fabric to the ears and undersides of the bunnies rather than using felt and embroidered an eye instead of using a bead and I am really very pleased with the result. I also made a quick felt carrot as a finishing touch (!)

Easter is just one of the loveliest times of the year for designing and sewing and this year I have had loads of fun designing for our school sewing clubs and making decorations for the home.

This is a bunny gift bag I made for my niece and it is full of yummy chocolates,

and this is what happened to the fabric floral egg decorations from the earlier tutorials on this blog

They are now hanging over the handles of the doors in our living room bringing a splash of lovely bright colour indoors in time for tomorrow's chocolate fest'.

Wishing you a fun filled and very Happy Easter!

Fabulous Floral Easter Egg Tutorial Number 4 - Vintage Rosette

Oops! This post is slightly later than planned due to a hectic weekend visiting my family. So, last but not least here is the final design in my fabric Easter Egg tutorials. Being a huge fan of bright colour and bold design, this one is my favourite. Hope you like it.

To make the rosette, follow one of my earlier tutorials from January 2013

To make the egg, follow steps two and three from  my tutorial from March 2014 , sewing the rosette on to the front of the egg instead of the cross stitch design.

We are going to get the Easter decorations out of the loft today and decorate our home with lovely Spring colours. I plan to thread a loop through the top of all of the eggs I have made over the past few weeks and hang them over door handles - gorgeous!

Reverse Applique - Floral Fabric EAster Egg - Tutorial Number 3

So school is now out for Easter and I have three very excited Easter Bunnies in my home - looking forward to just over two weeks of relaxation, playing with friends as well as numerous days out and visits to and from family and friends and of course the inevitable tonnes of chocolate!

It's two weeks until the big day - time enough to get busy with your needle and make the next in my series of floral fabric Easter Egg designs. This week's technique is reverse applique. It's a really lovely way to bring a touch of colour and pattern to the basic egg design and gives a lovely vintage feel. Here's how to make one:

Step one:

Cut two basic eggs shapes as in tutorial number one. On one of the egg shapes draw and cut out a simple five petal flower shape.

Step two:

Choose a scrap of pretty floral fabric that will cover and slightly overlap the edges of the cut out flower shape. Pin in to place on the back of the felt egg shape and sew around the edge of the flower shape using back-stitch to secure the patterned fabric in to place.

Step three:

Sew one or two buttons on to the centre of the flower shape. Pin the second felt egg shape on to the back and and sew around the edges using blanket stitch or over stitch. Leave a small gap and add a small amount of stuffing to give it depth and then sew up the remaining gap.

Your third felt egg is now complete. The final floral fabric egg tutorial egg will follow next week. In the meantime Happy Easter Hols!