Fabric Baskets

Making fabric baskets is easy and fun. They make a great gift. You would probably keep a few for yourself. The basket can be used for candy, office supplies, flower pot holders or anything that your imagination can think of.

The supplies needed are two pieces of contrasting fabric. They can be any size from 8″ . square to 12″ square. A piece of batting the same size as the fabric and four buttons are also needed.

Place the two pieces of fabric together, right sides together. Place batting under the fabric and sew around the edge with a 1/4″ seam. Leave a 3″ to 4″ opening so that you can turn the piece right side out.

Trim the batting and the corners before turning the piece right side out. Press carefully. Topstitch the edge, sewing up the opening. Quilt the piece. You could practice free motion quilting or quilt in straight lines. I added piping to the edges of this basket to see if I would like it. It does add another element, but does take longer to make.

Fold the piece in half. Measure and mark 2″ on the fold and up the edge. Draw a line between the two marks. When sewing on the line, back stitch to lock stitches in place. The 2″ mark is for a 12″ piece. You would mark a smaller triangle for a smaller piece. The measurement is how tall the basket will be. You might want some baskets taller and more thin or some shorter and fatter.

Refold the piece the other way and repeat what you did on the first fold. This is more awkward, so I pinned the points to keep them even while I marked and sewed.

When you fold the piece in half, the inside fabric will be the outside of the basket. The fabric on the outside will be the inside of the basket. It does sound backwards. I’ve made a lot of baskets forgetting this. They were pretty anyway, but not what I had planned.

Before you turn the basket right side out, tack the points down, all going in the same direction.