Easter Carrots

Easter is quickly approaching and it's always fun to sew little cute things. I found this tutorial for carrot treat bags on the Make It & Love It site, designed by blogger "Stitched By Crystal". 

As an Island Batik Ambassador, I was sent a very generous supply of fabrics and I knew there were perfect shades of orange and green included. I chose "Round Petal Floral - Cantaloupe" and "Marble - Leprechaun" from their Batik Foundations.  I matched them with Aurifil thread #1114 Grass Green and a variegated orange 4657 called Tramonto a Zoagli. 

Following Crystal's excellent instructions, these came together in no time.

I did make a few "quilty" adjustments, such as using a 1/4" seam allowance instead of the suggested 3/8". Doesn't that variegated orange thread work perfectly with the batik?

Using a sleeve board made pressing the seams open very easy.  Island Batik uses cotton with a very high thread count which means the seams do not ravel the same way a regular woven cotton does.  For this reason, I chose not to drag out my serger to clean finish the edges, as shown in the instructions.

I also folded the cuff down to meet the seamline, so that I could stitch in the ditch from the right side, a trick quilters learn from machine binding. When it came time to make the 1/2" channel for the drawstring, I simply switched to my walking foot, which I know from experience is 1/2" from the left side to the needle.  Quick and easy - no marking!

The treat bags are adorable, and can be filled with all kinds of goodies.  Chocolate eggs are one choice...

 ..but other things fit inside too, depending on your recipient. I am thinking perhaps even a Barbie dress for a special little gal-pal would tuck in nicely :)

Bunny approved!

A fun, quick project.  Thank you, Island Batik and Aurifil thread for supplying the materials, and to Crystal for sharing her pattern.