How to Make a Fabric Basket. Fabric Storage Basket With Handles. Free Sewing Tutorial.
This basket features the following Michael Miller fabrics:
CX-3716 Brite Kitty Capers for the body
CX-3717 Kitty Crowd for the lining, and
CX-3755 Lime Huevos for the cuff.
You will also need quilted cotton which will be used for interfacing (available in any fabric store).
1) Gather Materials
For this project you will need:
3 circles that are 11” in diameter (one from the outer fabric, one from the lining and one from the quilted interfacing). The pattern piece is provided on the last page of this tutorial.
3 strips 7”h x 36”w for the sides of the basket (one from the outer fabric, one from the lining and one from the quilted interfacing)
1 strip 4.5”h x 36”w for the cuff
2 pieces of 1” wide cotton twill tape, 9” each for the handles
2) Create the Outer Basket
Join the outer basket pieces to the quilted interfacing pieces by sewing around the edges using a ¼” seam allowance and long stitches. Do this for the circle piece and the side piece.
With right sides facing, pin the side piece to the bottom piece. If using patterned fabric, make sure the fabric is oriented the right direction.
There will be excess fabric on the side piece. Use a straight edge and rotary cutter to trim off
the extra fabric.
Ideally, I would have provided precise dimensions, but this custom fitting is necessary, since some shifting typically occurs when basting fabric to thick interfacing.
Pin the fabric in place, shorten the stitch length on your machine, and then sew the side piece
closed as pictured using a ½” seam allowance.
Sew around the perimeter of the basket using a ½” seam allowance. Finger press the seam to
one side and stitch across the bottom seam to seal it.
Turn the basket right side out. It should be able to stand up on its own.
3) Create the Lining:
The lining of the basket is made in the same way as the outside, except that it does not use
any interfacing. Also, because it is not as bulky, the seam may be ironed open (instead of being pressed to the side, as above).
Place the lining inside the basket, lining up the seams.
4) Attach the Handles:
Pin the handles in place as pictured. Fold the basket in half as necessary to ensure that the handles are directly across from each other.
Handles are spaced 2” apart from one inner edge to the other.
Machine baste the handles in place and remove pins.
5) Create the Cuff:
Fold the cuff piece in half lengthwise and iron. Measure around the perimeter of the basket and add ½” for the seam allowance. Trim the cuff to size.
Unfold the fabric and with right sides facing, sew both ends of the cuff together (using a ¼” seam allowance) to create a circle. Iron the seams open.
Iron the cuff piece in half lengthwise again.
Pin the cuff to the inside of the basket as shown. Raw edges should be facing up. When pinning, make sure that all layers are even with each other around the top.
Sew all the way around the perimeter of the basket using a 1/2” seam allowance.
At this point, you may wish to serge around the perimeter. Otherwise, use pinking shears to
trim raw edges. The raw edges will be hidden when you flip the cuff down.
Fabric Bucket Tute
One difference is that my buckets are quilted, while those in the tutorial are not. It gave me the chance to use up orphan blocks in my bottomless stash and free-motion quilt (FMQ) them.
Another change I made to the project was that I used fusible interfacing on the bucket bottom before I added the fleece and quilted it. It gave the bottom a little more oomph. If you want a bit more stiffness to the sides, you could add a layer of fusible to the sides before quilting too.
Here’s what it looks like to reinforce (a bit) the bottom:
Fuse wrong side of bottom fabric.
Add batting.
Free motion quilt.
Cut out bottom and mark.
Notice that there is no backing. Here’s a better look:
Pretty fabric/interfacing/batting. That’s it.
The sides are done the same way: Pretty pieced fabric/batting. The silly thing is going to be lined, so no need to waste backing.
Another tip is when you sew the sides to the round base. An old 4H sewing tip (at least that’s where I learned it) is to clip the SIDES (not the circle base) up to but not into the seamline to help with ease. Here’s what that looks like on the lining:
See the little clips? It helps the side fabric manipulate easier onto the circle base.
Also, I strongly suggest you learn to love your walking foot. Seriously. This is the project to use it on.
One more thing – I used up a bunch of batting scraps to make these buckets. All those long strips of batting from larger quilts? Perfect. And if they’re not quite the right size, I just butt them together and zig zag the seam. No one is the wiser and still another way to lighten up the load.
So now what to do with a cute fabric bucket? How about filling it cello-wrapped cookies or candies? Bath products? Homemade jam? Journal supplies?
I’m thinking about making one with shorter sides to hold spools of thread or maybe to corral the bobbins rolling around the floor!
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