How to Sew a Fabric Basket for Fall – Sewing for Beginners

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I love these baskets because you can make them in any size you need AND flatten them for easy storage.

JUMP TO THE VIDEO TUTORIAL

How to Sew a Fabric Basket for Fall in 3 sizes

SUPPLIES

Two squares of Cotton Fabric
Medium Weight Fusible Fleece (I used Pellon® 987F )
4 sets of snaps (I use KamSnaps in this tutorial)
Sewing Machine
Rotary Cutter / Ruler / Self Healing Mat

CUT the fabric and batting based on the chart above.

If you are making a basket with 2 fabrics and not creating the turkey block, SKIP TO STEP 2.

FUSE the batting onto the wrong side of one of your fabric squares, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Click here for Printable Instructions

STEP 1: MAKE THE 15″ TURKEY BLOCK

How to Sew a Fabric Basket for Fall - trim turkey placemat to 10" square

figure 1

SUPPLIES FOR LARGE TURKEY BASKET

Fabrics and Codes refer to the fabrics shown, from Riley Blake Designs. Ask for them where you love to buy fabric.

November Placemat Panel (PD12420-NOVEMBER)
- CUT a 10″ square from the placemat panel, centering the turkey. (fig. 1)
Brown November Text (C12421-BROWN) (fig. 2)
- CUT (2) 10″ x 3 1/4″ strips* to go across the top and bottom of the square
- CUT (2) 15″ x 3 1/4″ strips* to go on the sides of the square
- CUT (1) 15″ square (for the back)

* I usually cut 1/4 – 1/2″ longer and wider and trim to size as I sew the opposite sides on to ensure a well squared result.

Fusible Fleece Fusible Fleece (I used Pellon 987F)
- CUT (1) 15″ square

How to Sew a Fabric Basket for Fall - pieces

figure 2

SEW the top and bottom strips of fabric on the turkey square. (fig. 3)

If you cut slightly larger sashing pieces like I do, TRIM sides even with the turkey – so the fabric is 10″ wide. (fig. 4)

SEW to other 2 sides onto the turkey block.

TRIM block to be 15″ square.

FUSE the fleece onto the back of the turkey square, following manufacturers instructions.

sew on sashing - How to Sew a Fabric Basket

figure 3

trim to size - How to Sew a Fabric Basket

figure 4

STEP 2: SEW YOUR FABRIC SQUARES TOGETHER

Place your fabrics right sides together.
CLIP or PIN together.
SEW around the outside using a ¼” seam allowance and leave 3-4” open for turning. (figure 5)
TRIM corners to reduce bulk.
TURN right side out and iron flat, folding in the raw edges.
TOPSTITCH around the entire square 1/8” from the edge.

For a more professional look, match your bobbin thread to the main color of the bottom fabric and your main thread to the top fabric.

figure 5

STEP 3: SEW FOLD STITCH LINES

SEW the length of the square on all 4 sides (figure 6) Sew the same distance from each edge as the height of sides of the basket noted in the second column of the cutting chart.

For example, if you cut 15” squares of fabric, the sides of your basket will be 2½” high so sew 2½” from the side of the basket square, on all 4 sides. (see figure 4 – dashed lines are stitch lines)

figure 6

STEP 4: ADD THE SNAPS

Using the stitch lines, mark where your snaps will go.
PLACE a snap piece on the fabric that will be on the inside of your basket, so it is just inside the edge. (KAM Snaps are shown here)
Use a hem gauge or ruler and determine how far from the edge you need to poke the hole to install the snap OR where you will sew the snap on, depending on the kind of snaps you choose. (figure 3)
MARK the same distance to the side of the stitching in all 8 corners. (figure 4)

figure 7

figure 8

INSTALL the snaps per manufacturer’s instructions. (figure 9)
Once you’ve installed all 4 snap sets you simply snap each corner and your basket is ready! (figure 10)