Whether you’re just learning to sew, or you’ve been doing it for years, you’ll love a quick and easy project that helps you make handy and adorable organizing baskets. Use them to hold towels, craft supplies, kids’ shoes, a planter, and many other things. You’ll find the baskets a breeze to make and easy to fit right in with your home themes and colors.
Thick fabric works best for making one of the organizing baskets. Denim, corduroy, or even oilcloth, are great for making one. Look for colors and patterns that will blend with your decorating style. Make sure your machine is threaded with thick thread and has a heavy needle.
Decide how big around you want the basket to be and cut a piece of cardboard to that size. The cardboard doesn’t have to be super thick but should not be extremely thin. Something you have around your house, like a bowl or a pot, can make a good pattern for the circle. Use the cardboard circle as a pattern to cut a circle from the chosen fabric.
Besides the cloth circle you’ll need a fabric band. Cut the band to be a few inches wider than what you want for the height of the basket. Pin one long end of the fabric around the circle of cloth by placing their wrong sides together. As you’re pinning, leave a large area where the two ends of the band meet. Pin them together, take a quarter-inch seam, then go back and continue pinning the band to the circle.
Sew around the pinned area, taking a quarter-inch seam, to connect the band to the bottom of the basket. Turn the basket right side-out. Then, hem around the top edge of the arrangement. To do that, fold the edge under a half-inch, then again, and sew around it. To prepare the finished basket for use, put the cardboard circle in the bottom to reinforce it. Then, fold the top edge of the basket down a few inches, which will sturdy the top of the basket.
Make small baskets, large ones, or even square ones. Use them to hold brushes, combs, and towels, in the bathroom. Make more to hold utensils in the kitchen, socks in the laundry room, and toys or accessories in your closets. You’ll find the organization baskets really easy to sew and very handy to have around the house.