These big baskets and bowls made from stuffed fabric strips have been fun to make. I am NOT a ‘quilter’, but for Christmas gifts this year for daughter and daughter-in-law, these projects were my choice and well received.
I just finished this bowl for my daughter-in-law’s birthday, using leftover fabric from her large basket batting strips I found when I ENTIRELY cleaned out my sewing studio in January. This second time through the process, I tried something new for handles, came to some more conclusions about the ‘How-To’s, AND became aware of how very important it is that the needle plate on any sewing machine has NO gouges in it!
Below is the pattern that got me going, which is pretty similar to all of the ‘rope baskets’ you’ll find out there right now.
This pattern recommends using fusible fleece. Honestly, I don’t think that is necessary. It was kinda a pain to use – and expensive in my opinion. When making the bowl last week, I wanted to use up the (NON_fusible) batting I found that was left over from the hassocks I made for the kids back in 2015. Click here for a link to my Blog Post of THAT project. http://blog.londasfiles.com/hassock-gift-swing-updated-full-tutorial/
High time to use up left-overs, don’t you think?
The fabric strips are 2.5″ wide. The batting is 2.25″ wide.
First task is just stitching together all of the strips with 1/4″ seams so you have a VERY long strip of fabrics. I did take time to press those seam allowances open. Sorry – I didn’t measure how much I had, I just used up the scraps of fabric I had leftover from the basket project. If I had to guess, I bet I had a long strip at least 18-20 FEET long.
I think cutting the batting a bit narrower would be good… It occurred to me that basting down the center to hold the batting in place would be a good idea. Well – I ended up having to rip all that out, but it did serve to hold it in place as I proceeded. It occurs to me now that one could use strips of fusible web down the middle of the batting. That would get expensive, but I think perhaps not as pricey as using fusible batting… At this point, I don’t think I’ll be doing more of these projects, so I leave that up to you to decide what to try.
To read the rest of this Blog Post, hop over to my NEW Blog at the link below…see ya there! There, you’ll even learn how VERY important keeping the needle plate on your sewing machine in top condition to prevent skipped stitches.
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