Learn how to make a fabric Easter basket using the fabric rope method. This is a perfect stash-buster project using strips of fabrics. Pick out the ugly prints with great colors and get busy tearing strips that are about 1-inch wide. I prefer between 1-inch and 1-1/4 inch strips for this project.
Yield: One (1) Fabric Easter Basket
How to Make a Fabric Easter Basket
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner
Learn how to make a fabric Easter basket using the fabric coil method with our step-by-step tutorial.
Materials
- Pile of 1 to 1-1/2 inch wide strips of fabric. I prefer my strips to be about 22-inches long, the width of a fat quarter. 45-inch long strips are more difficult to work with
- One (1) fiber clothesline. I used one that was 100 ft. long which made a large Easter basket
- Thread for stitching NOTE: Thread color will show. I used a turquoise thread.
Tools
- Sewing machine
- Optional: Wonder Clips or Binder Clips
Instructions
- Start with a pile of cut or torn strips of fabrics and a clothesline. I had these precut strips in my stash. Generally I prefer torn strips of fabrics as that gives more texture to the finished basket.
- Cut off five (5) pieces of rope that are about 24-inches long. Reserve these for the handles.
- We'll begin with securing the fabric around the end of the rope. I fold over a piece of the fabric and then twist it around the first inch or two of rope.
- Using your zig zag stitch on your machine, with the settings for a wide stitch with a long stitch length, stitch the fabric to the rope.
- I like to stabilize the end of the rope before starting to twist the fabric around the rope forming the fabric coil. Once this is done, begin forming a spiral with the fabric covered rope. This first part is the hardest. Once you get started it is meditative stitching.
- You wrap the fabric around the rope, line the fabric wrapped rope along side the edge where you have already stitched and stitch so that that the zig zag attaches the new rope to the base.
- I've made enough of these bowls and baskets I can wrap and hold onto the fabric as i go. If you find it difficult, use a wonder clip or binder clip to hold the fabric wrapped rope as you sew.
The base for the basket is getting bigger!
- Here I'm coming to the end of one fabric. I like to leave at least 1-2 inches to then wrap the next fabric around the cord.
- The base is now about 10-inches in diameter. Ready to start making the sides of the basket!
- The first few rounds of the side you'll be thinking 'this isn't working'. Keep at it! Now, instead of working flat, bring the base to a 90-degree angle and stitch your fabric covered rope with a zig-zag stitch.
- Continue with this method until the sides of your basket are the height you'd like. I used up all of my rope, except the pieces I cut and set aside for the handles. See step 2.
- Do one last round of zig zag stitching around the entire top of the basket.
- Take your five (5) pieces of rope you set aside for the handles. Wrap each one with fabric and zig zag each one individually to secure the fabric around the rope.
- Then, stitch all five rope strips together with a zig zag stitch, making sure they stay flat.
- Trim the ends of this piece so that they are even.
Take a piece of fabric about 2-1/2 inches square and cover the ends of the handle. Stitch all around.
- Now it is time to secure the handle to the basket. It was too thick to sew through the two layers of rope on my sewing machine. I decided to hand stitch using a few stitched X's.
- Here is the finished fabric Easter basket.
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Have fun trying different fabric color combinations for your fabric Easter basket!
Tips:
- Tear your fabric strips to give your Easter basket more texture
- Use this as a stash-busting project. The print on the fabric doesn’t matter. It doesn’t show once the rope is wrapped. What is important is the overall color(s) of your fabrics.
- Use the widest stitch width for your zig zag stitching to make it easier to catch the new fabric coiled rope with the base of the basket.
- If you see you missed a section, just go back and zig zag over that area. No one will ever notice that you double stitched a section. (Ask me how I know!)
- The handle doesn’t stand up on its own very well. If that is important to you, consider enclosing a light weight wire into the wire wrapped rope pieces for the handle.
Browse through more Easter projects on Create Whimsy. Check out our sister article on how to make fabric rope bowls.
