Fabric Basket in Southwest Print & More Baskets With Decorative Stitches

I made a fabric basket from a free pattern that was offered through Craftsy, but when I went to look for the link for this free pattern, it was no longer there. I searched the web to see if I could find it elsewhere, but it was apparently taken down for some reason and the designer's website was no longer there either. Well this is the reason I copy tutorials and download patterns when I see them for free, because I have seen several *poof* disappear from the web. 

I have the directions for this on my computer and a good thing too, because on November 10 I am teaching how to make this fabric basket for my friend's birthday and a few other women are joining us. (I wrote this post before the class, so by the time you read this the class will have already happened). However, the basket itself is secondary to the teaching of using decorative stitches to create the basket exterior first and then because the basket is quick to sew together, that will be what we do after all the stitching is done. My friend has a machine that has 100's of stitches that she probably doesn't even know what they look like because she hasn't fully utilized her machine and she has owned this machine for a number of years now. I am sure a lot of you are the same way? Another woman in our group purchased a machine a few months ago and she needs to learn how to use her machine too. She is a beginner in everything.

I made several baskets using decorative stitches (I have 3 machines with decorative stitches) and I love being able to use my stitches to create something useful and beautiful too. But I wanted to make this basket using just fabric without decorative stitches too. I made this one in a Southwest print. (This one sold at the gift shop a few months ago).

Lots of photos of the decorative stitched baskets below the Southwest print one.

I quilted the exterior.

Inside is nice and roomy and this is a good size basket to hold Fat Quarters of fabric.

There are handles on the sides to carry the basket by. I liked these handles better than some fabric baskets where the handles stick up in the air. These are more subtle, but useful too.

Wide bottom of basket.

Side of basket where the handles are sewn.

Now for the baskets I made with decorative stitches. I made several completed baskets and for the class I have more in different stages of completion for teaching purposes.

I added buttons on the baskets for added bling. You can add yarn and rickrack and trim to couch too. Also hot fix crystals are another bling option as well as some hand embroidery too. I added French knots in brown along the green leafy stitch above. This is a closeup of the very last basket I made with the tan flower lining, the one that I gave to my friend.

Two baskets with the same lining fabric.

Roomy inside basket. Great for storing fat quarters as I mentioned before.

The other sides of the baskets.

More buttons and French knots.

The basket bottoms. I purposely made the stitches go on a diagonal so they would meet on the bottom and sides and go off in the other diagonal direction.

This one is a denim basket and because the denim is a darker fabric than the off white baskets, the thread colors, while they contrast, they do not pop as much as the lighter background fabric. 

The other side.

Bottom of basket.

I used a hand dyed fabric that I dyed myself for this basket. Lighter than denim and darker than the off white background, the thread colors do pop more here.

I used the same lining fabric as the denim basket. It was a nice fabric for both.

I did couch the turquoise rickrack on this basket using invisible thread. You can also match the thread or even contrast for a different look.

This one I gave to my friend for her birthday. The lining is different on this one. She likes Earth tone colors, so I chose mostly browns, greens and orange threads.

A pretty lining fabric too that is more neutral in color, with some gold metallic snowflakes.

See the kangaroo stitch and how it meets the anchor stitch? Well those 2 stitches are perfect for my friend because her eldest daughter is in the Navy and the younger daughter is going to college in Australia! The hot air balloon fabric is for Tara because she lives here in New Mexico.

Happy Birthday Tara!

Linking up to Elm Street Quilts Bag It 2017.
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