How to Sew a Fabric Bread Basket – Free Video & Written Tutorial
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VIDEO TUTORIAL | FREE TEMPLATES & DIRECTIONS PF | WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS
I recently went to Paris and fell in love with the floppy fabric bread baskets filled with delicious french bread. Of course my son asked what I was doing as I studied the construction of the basket but wasn’t surprised when I told him I wanted to make some when I got home from my fabric.
I had a few goals in mind when creating this fabric bread basket tutorial: I want it to be an easy and relatively quick project that will be great for beginners, make a wonderful gift or be something to sew and sell.
I had a few goals in mind when creating this fabric bread basket tutorial:
I want it to be an easy and relatively quick project that will be great for beginners, make a wonderful gift or be something to sew and sell.
If you are a quilter these baskets are a great way to all those quilt batting scraps you have around.
When finished, these bread baskets can be used with either fabric showing and look really cute if you fold the top down a little to have a cuff of the interior fabric. If your bread or rolls are warm, let the fabric cover the top to keep the heat in.
When they get dirty just throw them in the wash! These would be great for cookies as well.
IMPT NOTE: If you want to be able to use these in the microwave be sure to use everything that is 100% cotton. (fabric, batting, thread, etc)
I went to my sewing supplies and decided to give my Lori Holt circle rulers from Riley Blake Designs a try. I will never cut a circle with scissors again if I can help it!
I was able to make perfect circles easily with my rotary cutter when I put the fabric and ruler on a rotary cutting mat (also from Riley Blake Designs – by Sue Daley). You will need to turn your fabric without moving the ruler so a rotary mat or small cutting mat you can move on your workspace is needed.
This tutorial uses the Christmas prints from the Monthly Placemat Program I designed for Riley Blake Designs. Of course bread baskets aren’t just for Christmas so use whatever fabric suits the season, your decor or your fancy!
Here is a video tutorial showing you how easy cloth bread baskets are to make. Below it you will find step-by-step instructions with photos as well.
SHORTCUTS TO SPECIFIC TOPICS:
00:00 Fabric Bread Basket Tutorial
00:06 Supplies
01:19 Cut your fabrics
02:25 How to cut the perfect circle
04:23 Quilt the bottom
04:38 Sew the sides
05:22 Clip sides to bottoms
07:26 Sew sides to the bottoms
08:27 Sew 2 pieces together
10:56 Final touches
12:00 Ideas for use
12:29 Get the free template
Free PDF with Circle Templates and Instructions
Sue Daley Designs Pink 10″ Rotating Cutting Mat
Circle Rulers from Riley Blake by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet:
– Circle Ruler 6 inch
– Circle Ruler 9 inch
– set of 4 Circle Rulers
How to Sew a Fabric Bread Basket – Written Tutorial
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE PDF OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1: CUT YOUR FABRICS
I made bread baskets using both a 6″ and 9″ ruler that I had on hand. You can also get a template to print and use as a pattern. Here is what to cut for each of those sizes.
For 9″ round bottom: (shown in this tutorial)
CUT: 28 3/4″ x 11″ from each fabric
CUT: 9″ circle from each fabric and 1 circle from batting or fusible fleece (fig. 1)
(optional: for a more structured basket use fleece on the sides as well as the bottom)
For 6″ round bottom:
CUT: 19 1/4″ x 8″ from each fabric
CUT: 9″ circle from each fabric and 1 circle from batting or fusible fleece
(optional: for a more structured basket use fleece on the sides as well as the bottom)
For other sizes:
If you want to do another size, cut your fabric the length of the circumference of the circle + 1/2″. I just googled “what is the circumference of a 9″ circle” when determining fabric sizes.
I then put the circle of a piece of fabric and held the fabric up to decide how tall I wanted the sides to be – very scientific I know, but it works!
figure 1
STEP 2: QUILT BOTTOM FABRIC & SEW SIDES
Place batting or fusible fleece to the wrong side of one of your fabric circles and QUILT as desired. (fig. 2)
With right sides together, FOLD each long strip of fabric in half matching the short sides and SEW with a 1/4″ seam.
PRESS seams open.
figure 2
STEP 3: SEW SIDES TO BOTTOMS
FOLD each circle in half and mark the edges at the fold.
FOLD the opposite way and mark so you have 4 marks, equally distributed around the circles. (fig. 3)
FOLD each long piece so the seam is on one side, mark the other side. (fig. 4)
MATCH the seam and the mark you just made then lay flat on your workspace. Mark the 2 folds so you have 4 marks, equally distributed around the side fabric.
Right sides together, PIN or CLIP the sides to the round bottom, first matching each of the 4 marks and then easing the side fabric to the edge of the circle. (fig. 5)
figure 7
figure 3
figure 4
figure 5
STEP 4: SEW TWO PIECES TOGETHER
Right sides together, place one fabric inside the other, matching the side seams.
PIN or CLIP tops together. (fig. 6)
SEW with 1/4″ seam allowance leaving a few inches open to turn. (fig. 7)
TURN right side out and PRESS top edge.
TOPSTITCH 1/8″ from the edge.
figure 6
figure 7
That’s it! So cute and easy. The part that takes the longest is pinning or clipping the sides to the circles. I decided to make a few for gifts so I did all my clipping while watching tv to make it seem less tedious.
These aren’t JUST for bread! Use them for cookies, as a gift bag, even add some pizazz to your poinsettia! The 9” is perfect for a 6” potted poinsettia. This would be a great hostess gift that they can keep on the plant or use as a bread basket. So many things you can do!
I’d love to hear how you will use these (leave a comment!) and see what you make (tag me if you post on social media).
Happy Sewing!
🥖🧵 Tara Reed
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