Last year, my easter blog post was how to make fabric eggs, so since then I've been wanting to make a fabric basket to put them in. So when I saw this post by Flossie Teacakes I was inspired! This project took me about 5 hours to make (quite leisurely, while watching chick flicks). I used a beautiful fabric bundle from Elephant in my Handbag.
What you'll need
Fabric*
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| Bohemia Floral Multi Cream - Bundle - Cotton |
(#)Ruler
Piping Cord
(#) (I used 5mm smooth piping cord, 10-15m will be more than enough)Mini Glue Gun
(#)Glue Gun Sticks
(#) (I used between 10-15 of these)Cutting your fabric
I got this beautiful fabric from Elephant in my Handbag, this bundle contained 6 fat quarters of each design, so a total of 1.5m of fabric. The fabric was great quality! If you do your basket the same size as mine you should have some fabric left over for another project. I think I will use mine to make a crochet hook roll, let me know in the comments below if you would like to see this!
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| Bohemia Floral Multi Cream - Bundle - Cotton |
I cut my strips so that they were 50cm x 2.5cm (20"x1") in size. I used about 28 of these strips for the basket. So if you decide to make your basket the same size as mine you will need half metre of fabric total.
Making your Basket
Start by attaching your strips together. Do this by placing two strips right sides together then sewing down one of the shorter sides. I attached size strips together then started wrapping it around my cording.
Start by wrapping fabric around the raw end of your cording, hot gluing it in place to prevent the cord from fraying.
Now keep wrapping the strip around the cording, making your way along its length. Don't worry too much about the fabric fraying as I think it just adds to the scrappy effect.
Keep wrapping and gluing, wrapping and gluing, wrapping and gluing. Once you have at least 30 cm of wrapped cording, its time to start assembling your basket.
I wasn't too neat with my glue as I knew I would be able to pick off most excess once dry. So to build the bad just coil the cording around itself and glue into place. Once your base is as big as you want it, it's time to start building the sides.
Gradually, glue the cording so that it is slightly raised. As you run out of fabric, sew 6 more strips together and attach to the end of the piece you are wrapping around.
If patience is not your strong suit then perhaps this project is not for you, since its quite time consuming. However, I found it very therapeutic taking my time and watching some trashy films and stopping for the odd hot chocolate too...
I wasn't too neat with my glue as I knew I would be able to pick off most excess once dry. So to build the bad just coil the cording around itself and glue into place. Once your base is as big as you want it, it's time to start building the sides.
Gradually, glue the cording so that it is slightly raised. As you run out of fabric, sew 6 more strips together and attach to the end of the piece you are wrapping around.
If patience is not your strong suit then perhaps this project is not for you, since its quite time consuming. However, I found it very therapeutic taking my time and watching some trashy films and stopping for the odd hot chocolate too...
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| ...Cheeky hot chocolate... |
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| wrap, glue, wrap, glue, wrap, glue .... |
To finish, once you are happy with the height and shape of your bowl cut the cording. Now tuck the end so that it is inside the bowl. Stick some glue on the end of the cording to prevent fraying.
You could finish at this point and leave it as a cute storage bowl.
Making your Handle
Cut three 50cm pieces of cording. Wrap the same size fabric strips around the cording, gluing as you go. Then glue the bottom of all three finished cords together, ready to start plaiting. I decided to tie a hair bobble tightly around them to help the glue to bond. Make sure when you are plaiting that you plait nice and tight so that the handle is strong once finished. As you plait feel free to dot some glue as you go to keep the plait nice and secure. Once you reach the other end glue your ends next to each other like we did at the beginning. Now use plenty of glue to attach your handle to the inside of your basket. Make sure you press the handles onto the basket firmly until the glue is properly dry and bonded. My handles stay up with no support whatsoever however if your don't, it might be worth adding some wire underneath as a support, or maybe you sound plait in some wire as you make your cording plait.
I honestly loved making this! Sending a big thank you to Elephant in my Handbag for sending me the fabric. You could use the same method to make coasters, you could definitely get creative with it! Or if you don't have glue you could sew with a zig zag stitch joining the cording together. The possibilities are endless! Will you be giving this a go? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @SewDarnNeat.
Goodbye For Now!
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