How to Make a Sturdy Fabric Basket

A sturdy fabric basket is a great way to store sewing tools, notions, small scraps of fabric, or many other small items in your sewing room or around the house. Ashley Hough shows you how easy it can be to make a fabric basket in any size to fit your needs.

How to Make a Sturdy Fabric Basket —

Gather your Supplies and Sew

Ashley first begins by explaining what you will need to make your fabric basket. This fabric basket pattern is fairly simple in that it comes together with five squares of fabric that are the same size. Ashley explains that you will need squares of fabric for the outer basket and then squares of fabric for the basket lining as well. She also offers several options for how to make your basket stiffer.

Use Layers or Thick Batting

The first option, which is the option that she demonstrates in this tutorial, is to use layers of felt or a thick batting between the outer and lining fabrics. Other options to make the basket stiffer would be to use layers of thick interfacing or stabilizer between the layers. Ashley demonstrates how to layer the inner fabric and the felt together and then stitch them to secure the layers. She explains that this stitching can be done as simple or complex as desired. The more that you stitch the layers together, or quilt them, the stiffer they can become.

Layout and Sewing

Once all of the prep work has been done, Ashley demonstrates how to layout and sew the five squares together to become the fabric basket. She shows that this is done the same way for the outer fabric as with the inner fabric and that once they have both been stitched, the basket lining can be inserted into the basket. She finishes off the tutorial by showing how to secure all the layers together and finish the upper edge.

After you make a fun fabric basket, check out more fun and useful sewing projects.