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Tutorial: How to Make a Fabric Basket, perfect for Easter!

by Dot 20 March 2009 10,315 views 28 Comments

Handmade Fabric BasketWelcome CRAFT, Tip Junkie, and Whip-up readers… Look around, we have lots of cool projects here!
My friend Heidi Bragg gave The Boy an adorable basket filled with goodies as a thank you for borrowing his tux. I found out that she actually made this gorgeously cute basket herself, and insisted that she tell us how! She did, and even provided a pattern for you to make your own! Check out the so cute monkey and banana coordinated fabric… the possibilities are endless. Wouldn’t this be special for a keepsake easter basket? Or a gift basket for a friend?

More pics and the pattern below the instructions.

Materials for basket:
½ yard of fabric (¼ for the outer basket shell; ¼ for the liner)
1 yard Pellon, double-sided fusible interfacing – you can make 2-3 baskets from a single yard of interfacing, but since you need the length for the basket handle, you need at least 1 yard even if you only plan to make one basket.
Iron on backing (WunderUnder) for letters
Contrasting fabric for letters

Step 1: First things first, you’ll want to design your basket or download the pattern I created. The basket I designed is a tapered square design, but you could easily create a rounded basket with just a few modifications.

Step 2: Cut out the pieces as shown in pattern from both the outer shell fabric and liner fabric. You’ll also want to cut out a 2.5” wide x 25” long piece from each fabric for the handle.

Step 3: Trace the interfacing pattern pieces onto the Pellon. You’ll also want to measure out (2)1.25” wide x 26” long pieces of interfacing for the handle. Cut out all the pieces.

Step 4: Iron each piece of fabric to remove wrinkles. Fuse the Pellon onto the outer shell fabric (follow the directions on the interfacing to do this), leaving about a ¼” of excess fabric around the edges (the basket side pieces will have additional excess at the top).

Step 5: Sew the outer shell together keeping the needle of the machine as close to the interfacing as possible. I found it easiest to sew all the sides together and then attach the bottom of the basket. The basket should now be formed – simply turn it right side out (this might seem a bit difficult to manage with the stiff interfacing, but don’t give up. Any wrinkles that appear can be ironed out later.) Iron the top edge of the basket down over the back of the interfacing.

Step 6: Sew the liner together – sides first and then attach the bottom. Insert the liner into the outer shell and fold the top down so that it is even with the outer shell. Iron into place, following the directions on the Pellon to complete the fusing process.

Step 8: Follow the Pellon directions to fuse your handle fabric onto each piece of your handle interfacing, wrapping the fabric around the interfacing so that the raw edges meet. Sew the wrong sides of the handles together.

Step 9: Attach the handles to the basket by sewing them onto the interfaced-lined outer shell. Ideally, the handle should rest at least 1.5 inches below the top of the basket on each side.

Step 10: Stitch the liner to the outer shell using a decorative stitch. Or if you prefer, you can use sewing glue to close the seam.

Lettering:
Follow the directions provided here to add lettering to your basket. I choose not to outline my letters with stitching and therefore applied them after the basket was complete. If you prefer to edge stitch your letters, you will need to do this before you fuse the fabric to the Pellon or stitch the basket pieces together.

Handmade Fabric BasketHandmade Fabric BasketHandmade Fabric Basket

If you like this, stop and leave a comment, so I can share the love with Heidi! And if you do a basket be sure to come back and share it with us… – dot

Download the Pattern!


Collection of Creatively Dyed Easter Eggs from around flickrRelated – Other Crafty Guest Posts:
Tutorial – Needle Felting a Cute Gnome
Tutorial – Make Felt M&M Cookies

Hey! If you’ve done this project, please leave a comment with a link, add it to the pool on flickr, or email me. I’d like to post some pics!

EDIT: More EASTER! Easter Eggs: 12 Interesting ways to color/paint/dye them!

Twitter It!

These might be related posts, too:

  1. Easter Eggs & Baskets
  2. Easter wrapup, and Share your easter eggs!
  3. Dabbled Easter Roundup
  4. Freezer Paper Stencils Tutorial (Re-run)
  5. Easter Egg Prep – How to blow eggs!

28 Comments »

  • Hello, I'm Sally. said:

    Oh yay! I’m glad you posted this, I totally want to make some for my kids.

    # 20 March 2009 at 6:37 pm
  • Diana Evans said:

    oh wow!!! wonderful work Nancy….thanks for posting this!!!

    # 20 March 2009 at 8:21 pm
  • This is Carrie said:

    Very cute basket!

    # 20 March 2009 at 9:59 pm
  • 3rdEyeMuse said:

    Heidi’s basket ROCKS! love the design and her fabric choices really are great. :)

    # 21 March 2009 at 12:53 am
  • Jocelyn:McAuliflower said:

    chanting: Easter, Easter, Easter!

    you crafty sewing types drive me crazy with envy :)

    # 21 March 2009 at 2:25 am
  • Meg said:

    Love This! Can’t wait to try it.

    # 21 March 2009 at 3:08 am
  • Rachel@oneprettything.com said:

    Oh I love this! Now my husband can have a Super Mario Easter! I’ll be linking.

    # 23 March 2009 at 6:53 pm
  • Kyle and Lesley said:

    Thanks for posting this! I am so excited to make this for my daughter. I’m always on the lookout for useful projects that I can personalize. Thanks so much!

    http://www.kensingtonblue.com

    # 24 March 2009 at 3:28 pm
  • Stephanie Ozenne said:

    I love this! I downloaded it and probably won’t make any until next year (I’m due with a baby in a few weeks), but it’s a great idea – so much better than the baskets you can buy!

    # 24 March 2009 at 5:54 pm
  • Dot said:

    Thanks so much!

    I wanna see some of the baskets you guys make.

    With the relatively small amount of fabric required, wouldn’t this be a great project to do with fabric you designed on Spoonflower?

    # 24 March 2009 at 6:52 pm
  • Little Green Doll said:

    Thanks for the tutorial! Beautiful basket!

    # 27 March 2009 at 11:40 am
  • Hana @ celebrations.com said:

    oh my goodness, this is an adorable idea! Especially with the little name tag! Bet the kids will really love this. Thanks for sharing :)

    # 27 March 2009 at 9:40 pm
  • Amanda @ www.kiddio.org said:

    What a fun idea! I’m hosting an Easter kid craft Jamboree over at my blog, Kiddio, and I’d love to be able to include your post. Come check out the details at:

    http://www.kiddio.org/2009/03/announcing-kid-craft-jamboree.html

    Or go here to sign up:

    http://www.kiddio.org/2008/01/jamboree-1-submission-form.html

    Hope to see you! Thanks :)

    Amanda @ http://www.kiddio.org

    # 30 March 2009 at 6:46 pm
  • Carrie P. said:

    This basket is so cute. My kids are all adults but I think I might still have to make some. Thanks for sharing.

    # 31 March 2009 at 8:37 pm
  • Gina said:

    Thanks for the great tutorial, it was so easy to make and the results were great. My little boy loves it.

    # 3 April 2009 at 5:25 pm
  • nap time journal said:

    Thanks so much for the great “how to” and I love your blog!

    # 8 April 2009 at 5:04 am
  • Justine said:

    Thanks for the adorable pattern and tutorial! I made it for my son’s Easter basket and am so excited how it turned out!! Although I’m not sure how to post the photo! :)

    # 9 April 2009 at 2:19 pm
  • Dot said:

    Justine, you can email me the picture and I’ll post it, or if you have it up somewhere on line, just post or send the link. I’d love to see it!

    # 9 April 2009 at 3:05 pm
  • Lydia said:

    I LOVE this pattern! One question (please excuse my ignorance!)…I have the outer lining sides sewn together and need to sew the bottom piece on…what is the best way to do this? Any tips for manuevering it into the machine? Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial!

    # 10 April 2009 at 1:02 am
  • Heidi said:

    @ Lydia – the best way to sew the bottom on is to fold the sides. So basically, the basket will be flat as you stitch the bottom piece on. The interfacing should be flexible enough to do this, and the crease will iron out once you are finished.

    It can be a little tricky the first time you try it, but I promise it works.

    # 10 April 2009 at 1:24 am
  • Lydia said:

    Thanks Heidi! It worked!! :-)

    # 10 April 2009 at 2:14 am
  • Dot said:

    Hey! If you’ve done this project, please leave a comment with a link, , add it to the pool on flickr, or email me. I’d like to post some pics!

    Thanks!
    dot

    # 10 April 2009 at 4:05 pm
  • Kristi Lou said:

    Thank you so much for this pattern! I made three of them for my little ones & I had them done in one afternoon.

    thanks again!!!

    http://kraftsbykristi.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter-baskets.html

    # 12 April 2009 at 4:46 pm
  • scary dolls said:

    That ’s great ! Amazing article. Very very love this. Many thank.

    # 11 January 2010 at 2:10 am
  • kids dolls said:

    Thanks again for the informative post.

    # 11 January 2010 at 10:28 pm
  • Brittany said:

    Thanks for the cute idea. This was only my second sewing project, and it turned out great!

    From Easter Basket

    # 1 April 2010 at 10:35 am
  • Brittany said:

    Tried to embed the picture above, but it didn’t work. Here’s the link to a photo of the finished product.

    http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MYhV8d_B24hG3nlqXr-r0g?feat=directlink

    # 1 April 2010 at 10:37 am
  • Dot said:

    Brittany, it looks great!

    # 1 April 2010 at 10:43 am

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