How to Sew a Basket: Easy Home Project

As all of us have been spending much time at home recently, so we thought it would be nice to come up with a project that can help keep our homes a little more organized. In today’s blog, we will tell you, Petite Designers, how to sew a cute little basket. It is a versatile sewing project as you can use it for storage or as a plant holder, for example, which always looks adorable. As always, you can mix and match your favorite colors and make this basket very special. Let’s start!

What You Will Need:

Sewing Machine
Heavy-duty fabric – ½ yard
Cotton fabric – ½ yard
Interfacing – ½ yard
Thread, ruler, scissors

Step 1: Create a Sewing Pattern

Making a pattern for this sewing project is pretty simple. You can either build your pattern on a piece of paper and then reuse it, or you can draw the pattern right on your fabric. We built our sewing pattern right on the shell, our outer, fabric:

First, we need to build a 12’’ x 12’’ square. When you draw a square, it is very important to make sure that you have 90-degree angles, otherwise, the square will lose its shape. Use a 90-degree angle ruler to measure your angles. If you don’t have a ruler, take a book or magazine as they have 90-degree angles.
Now that your square is ready, you need to draw two little boxes at the bottom of your square, right in the corners. The boxes should be 3’’ x 3’’.
You will also need to draw a rectangle for the handles. The rectangle will be 7’’ x 3.5’’. Here it is also very important to use your ruler that measures 90-degree angles.

Step 2: Cut Your Fabric

To cut faster, we will cut on a double layer of the shell fabric. This way, we will only cut once but get two pieces ready. When you cut on two layers, don’t forget to pin them together, otherwise, one of the layers can move.

Cut following the lines of your pattern. Do you remember those little boxes we drew at the bottom of our square? We need to cut out those boxes to get the right shape of our sewing pattern. This picture shows exactly how the fabric should look like when it is cut out.

Now you need to cut out 4 more pieces: 2 from your lining (cotton fabric) and 2 from your interfacing. TIP: Use the shell piece you just cut out as a pattern for the lining and interfacing. Pin your shell fabric to the lining and cut it out following the shape of your fabric. Repeat the same step for the interfacing.
Cut out your handles from your shell material. Since you will need 2 handles, cut them our on fold as well.

Step 3: Glue Your Interfacing to the Shell

Even though we are using a pretty stiff outdoor material for the shell of this project, we want it to have a perfect shape. Interfacing can help us with this. So, how do you attach your interfacing to the shell?

To glue the interfacing to the shell, you need to use a hot iron. Put the rough side of the interfacing with the wrong side of your shell (the side that won’t show when the project is done).
Cover both pieces with a cloth and press them together with a hot iron. Interfacing must glue to the shell so they become a single piece.

Step 4: Stitching the Pieces Together

Now that our fabric is ready, we can start stitching. Thread your machine and set it for a basic stitch (stitch #1 if you use a Brother Project Runway sewing machine). Make your stitch longer since we work with a heavy-duty fabric (make it 3.0 on your Brother machine). Start stitching the shell pieces:

Put them together with the right sides facing each other
Draw a line ½’’ from the edge on the sides and at the bottom of the fabric.
Sew the two pieces together where the lines go. Security stitch at the beginning and the end.

Cut off all thread leftovers to keep your project nice and clean. Repeat the same steps for your lining.

Step 5: Stitching the Corners

To give our beautiful basket that shape we are looking for, we now need to stitch the corners together.

Take two corners on the left of your shell fabric, align them and stitch together. Then stitch the two corners on the right in the same way.
Repeat these steps for your lining.
Don’t forget to security stitch.

Step 6: Open the Seams

Your shell and lining are ready. Now you need to open the seams of both pieces and iron them so they stay open as you continue to work with your project. When you press your bottom seams, be gentle as it can create a crease at the bottom that we don’t want.

Step 7: Sew the Handles

This is the last step before we start assembling our cute basket.

Fold the long sides of the handle ½’’ inwards so you can hide the raw edges inside of your handle.
Fold your handle in half and align the long sides.

Stitch along the opening with a basic stitch as close to the edge as possible. You need to make sure those folded edges stay inside and don’t come out.
Topstitch on the opposite side (also with a basic stitch).

Step 8: Attach the Handles to the Shell

Finally, we begin to put all our pieces together, and we’ll start by sewing our handles to the shell.

Put the handles inside of the shell material – they should be attached to the right side of the fabric, not to the side with interfacing.
Place them right where the seams are. Keep the distance between two sides of a handle at 1 inch.
Stitch the handles to the shell with a basic stitch. Security stitch at the beginning and the end of every half of a handle.

Step 9: Attach the Lining to the Shell

Now it is time to sew the shell and the lining together.

Turn your lining inside out and place it inside of the shell. The right sides of the shell and the lining should face each other. Make sure the seams of the shell and the lining are aligned.
Align the top edge of your shell with the top edge of the lining and pin them together all around.
Mark a 3’’ opening on the side of one of the seams. We will leave this opening so we can later turn this basket inside out.
Stitch with a basic stitch all around about ½’’ from the top edge. Security stitch at the sides of the opening.

Step 10: Turn Your Basket Inside Out

Remember we have an opening that we didn’t close while stitching? We will use it to turn our basket inside out. Take your time and start pushing the fabric out through that opening. When it is flipped, push out the sides and corners well.

Step 11: Press Your Basket

Before you finish the basket, you need to press it with a hot iron. This way you will see how your final project will look and also notice any imperfections before you finish the project and fix them.

Step 12: Close the Gap

Our beautiful basket is ready, and all we need to do now is to close the opening we left to flip the basket. To close that hole, top-stitch all around the upper edge of your basket around ¼’’ from the edge. Start stitching from one of the seams (where the handles are) as your security stitch will be less visible.

Congratulations! Your lovely sewing project is ready and you can use it in so many ways. We love this basket! For a more detailed explanation of how to sew a basket, check this video where Maryna will show you how she sews her basket. Have fun!