Make a Fabric Basket from Scraps

From making other projects, I ended up with some scrap fabrics in wide strips, so I decided to use several of them to make a basket with handles.

Helpful hint: When I know I have to make something with lots of pieces that need interfacing, I will fuse larger pieces and then cut them down to avoid cutting out lots of separate pieces of fabric and interfacing.  The Robert Kaufman Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in black already had both interfacing and fusible batting on the pieces, so it did limit what I could use them for.

Here’s what I ended up cutting, but you could customize the size of your basket to any dimensions:

4.5 x 5.5 inches  – cut 2 exterior and 2 lining
8.5 x 5.5 inches – cut 2 exterior and 2 lining
8.5 x 4.5 inches – cut 1 exterior and 1 lining – this is the bottom piece
4 x 15 inches – handle pieces

Sew together all lining pieces and exterior pieces to form the basket.  I found it was easiest to sew the shorter side pieces onto the bottom, then sew the long side pieces on by starting at the top corner, then pivoting the sewing machine needle once there was only 1/4 inch left, stitching it to the bottom, then working my way back up along the side to the opposite corner.

For the handles, iron the long piece in half, then in halves again and top stitched three times – on each side and in the middle.  Then cut in half to form two handles. After the exterior is constructed, sew the handles to the sides as shown below.

Insert the lining into the exterior (lining will have right sides facing out, while the exterior will have wrong sides facing out) – then pin/clip the top edges together starting with the corner seams and working the way to the middle.  (Sorry, forgot to take a photo of this!) Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance – sew the opening closed except for a gap of about 5 inches for turning.  Turn right sides out as shown.  Press the seams and top stitch around the entire basket to close the opening.

To give the basket a more structured shape, press all of the sides and bottom.

What’s great about this project is that you can use a variety of fabrics, patchwork, and can use up those scraps!  This is a relatively easy sew, it took me less than an hour.

See you next time!

-Jennifer


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