STEP BY STEP BASKET TUTORIAL

FIrst...while I assemble a list of goods and take pics, you need to familiarize yourself with your sewing machine's zigzag stitch. Learn how to change the stitch length and density. Have lots of bobbins filled with thread, you will use lots of thread.

THese baskets use a little straight stitch and mostly zig zag. You should have a zigzag foot on your machine, but also be able to do some straight stitching without having to change the foot.

Make sure your machine and you can do all this.

This is not for wimpy machines. These baskets are made of fabric wrapped around a cord. You can use different types of cord. But the one I will show you is the biggest my machine will handle. Heavier cording simply isn't going to happen for me with the limitations of my machine. Your machine's abilities will determine the materials you can ultimately use.

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You will need:

Cording. I buy this at Canadian Tire, the only place I've found it. Brand name Blueline, clothesline, cotton/polyester, 3/16" x 50 feet. IT is a compressed cotton core wrapped with polyester fibres. I have sewn many, many baskets and this material has not ruined the needle yet. I am using a denim weight needle, a little heavier than normal. I tried this project with heavy jute cording and found the jute very messy, dulled the needle, and because it was kind of floppy, made a floppy basket. Once you get comfortable you can try other cording materials. But to start having this cording will make the project much easier. One 50 foot length should make 2 small baskets.

Clamps, from the dollar store, or clothespins.

Glue stick, doesn't need to be fancy, dollar store stuff is fine.

Strips of fabric. I use 100% cotton. Cut in 1 inch widths, make the strips about 18 to 22 inches long. Longer or shorter are frustrating lengths. Once you get good you will want to add shorter or longer accent colours, but to start 18-22 inches is ideal. You do not need to be dead accurate with the cutting, 'close enough' will work fine. This is not as precise as quilting!

If you collect fat quarters, they are the perfect size for cutting! Cut either straight of grain or crosswise, it doesn't matter much. I like a little stretch for this project, so I cut mine crosswise, with a little bit of selvage on the end of each strip. If the selvage of your fabric is white or a different colour than the rest of the strip, snip it off.

Unwrap the cord. The end is usually tucked up in one of the rolls. Unwind some, stretch it a little to get the kinks out, DO NOT CUT IT!
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On the ugly/wrong side of a fabric strip, generously glue about 1.5 inches of the end. You are going to glue this to the end of the cord, where you will begin wrapping.
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I sit with knees crossed or knees together and run the cord between my knees to keep a little tension on it as I work. I work to the left side of my body.

At an angle, as shown, fold a glued triangle/corner of the strip over the cord. Pinch. Make sure to cover the end and it's okay to leave a little fabric tail sticking over the end.


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Now start wrapping. I wrap AWAY from myself, over the top of the cord, and bring it back toward myself under the cord. Make like you're putting a long skinny bandage on a long skinny cord. It is very important to always wrap each new strip of fabric in the same direction.

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After a few wraps, clamp your glued end to secure it and wrap away until you hit the end of your strip. When you are almost at the end, glue an inch or so of it, wrap, clamp.

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Start your next fabric strip by gluing the end, then layering it over the last wrap, and continuing on in the same direction. After a few wraps, clamp your newest glued overlap. Each wrap will be slightly overlapping the wrap before, you do not want any cord visible, want it all wrapped in fabric.

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You continue on like this for a while, glue, wrap, clamp until you've wrapped a section of cord. I like to wrap 6 or 7 feet at a time to work with.

DO NOT CUT THE CORD!

THe picture shows about 75 inches or wrapped cord ready to start the sewing part.

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And now, a word from our sponsor....

There are two basket shapes that I have attempted so far; Round and oblong.

Round starts as a coil. Think cinnamon bun. Snail shell. This shape has a weakness where the coil begins. I find it impossible to zigzag right from the start, so there is a section of my baskets that are not that securely attached. Without fail when people see these baskets they are eager to handle them, often quite roughly, and they love to get their thumbs under the basket and thrust upwards in the centre, and BOINK the 'navel' of the basket, the coil right in the bottom, pops out! I don't know why people do this, but they do. This problem is overcome by cutting a circle of fabric, covering it with a thick layer of glue and gluing it to the bottom of the basket. This stabilizes the bottom and is also a place to put your signature with a Sharpie.

Oblong baskets begin as two strips of cord sewn side by side. These baskets do not pop out in the middle, but are easy to get out of shape as you twist the ends around under the presser foot trying to juggle them as you zigzag.

I warn you that my explanations will be lacking, but I hope through some trial and error you will be able to figure out on your own what I'm getting at.

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It might make this thread easier to follow if there are no other posts in it. If you have a question do not hesitate to PM me! If your question points out a lack of skill in tutorial making, it will give me a chance to edit in (or out) and changes I need to make! So please do ask me in a PM, but maybe we should keep this thread as clear as possible and only us it for tutorial (she says making a post)

Now make a small coil. You HAVE NOT CUT THE CORD. Coil firmly but not crazy tight, secure with a pin when it's about the size shown.
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Making sure that the cord enters from the RIGHT, using a STRAIGHT STITCH stitch across the coil, put it in reverse and stitch back over your same line. Then turn it the other way and do the same again, making a + across the coil. Straight across, reverse back over that straight line. ALway keep the long tail to your right.

My reverse stitching got a little wonky.
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Switch back to ZIGZAG .

Place your foot where two wraps meet. You will not be able to get right to the centre of the coil to do this. The book I taught myself with says you should start in the centre and if you can, go for it, but that was just too fiddly for me. I start a little distance out from the centre, as you can see.

Make sure your zigzag straddles where the cords come together. Keeping the long tail to your right, begin sewing the coil larger. I sometimes use a shrimp skewer to help it along if it gets hung up. Keep the coil FLAT.
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Sew until you have 5 or 6 inches of wrapped cord left. Stop and secure stitching with a reverse stitch. Remove from machine.

This measurement doesn't mean much, just a rough aprox of how big a coil 5 or 6 feet of cord will make, depending on how you sew. Results will vary a bit.
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As I mentioned before, the 'navel' of your basket is the weakest point and people love to poke their fingers into it, so with a circle of fabric and your glue, now is the time to secure that a little.

Keep in mind the side you see as you sew is the INSIDE of your basket, and the side facing away from you will be the bottom/outside of the basket.

Generously glue your fabric circle and press it to the BACKSIDE of your basket, Smoosh it in with your fingers. Then flip it right side up again and press it the coild down flat. You will want your basket to have a nice flat bottom.

You may now continue some more wrapping....

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Another word from our sponsor...

THe size of the base you make determines the size of your basket. It is possible to make really large baskets, but they can get a little awkward to handle, although not impossible.

The big thing to remember is that whatever part of the basket you are working on, you want it either flat, or you want to be in control of the angle, but you don't want it accientally flopping all over the place because it's unsupported. So, if you want to make a BIG basket and will be starting by making a BIG base, you have to build up an area around your sewing machine that extends the 'working area' of your machine. Using phonebooks, paperbacks, magazines, etc, mickey mouse a 'table' area the same height as your machine, so your large base has something to rest on that keeps it level. I used olD college textbooks with a few magazines underneath to get them to the right height.

In the next few steps, onCe we have the base the size we want, we are going to start building up the sides. This is done by tilting the base as you sew. Don't worry, there will be pictures. This is where the shape of your machine will determine the basket you can build.

I would like to make a basket with really steep, right angle sides, but because the 'nose' of my machine is quite fat, that is simply not going to happen. If your machine has a narrow nose, you will be able to make steep sided baskets. This is determined by how far in your needle sits from the 'nose' of the machine. I know I am not explaining this very well. The nose being the portion above your needle where the lightbulb is. Some of those are fat and bulky, some are sleek and narrow. Sleek and narrow means you can make a steep basket, bulky means your basket will have sloping sides. To some extent your machine determines the shape possibilites of your basket.

So how many of you have wrapped another three or four feet of cord? We can't proceed until we've wrapped more cord. Do not cut the cord.

I have wrapped more cord and sewn my base a bit bigger. The size you make is up to you but to start, this is a workable size.
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Keeping the tail always to your right...begin the sides of your basket by tilting it up at a slight angle, as shown. Sew one or two rounds with the base held at this angle, use your hand to prop it up.
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Without taking the basket out of the machine, tilt the base up until it touches the nose of your machine and sew a few more rounds. Because the needle of my machine is set back about 2 inches from the nose, (fat nose) my baskets will always be tapered, like a mixing bowl. If the front of your machine is narrow and you can tip your base even steeper, your basket will have more upright sides, like a coffee can. You will learn that the angle you sew at will determine the shape of your basket. Narrow fronted machines have more shape choices than fat front machines.

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Now it's time to decide how big you want your basket. Coins or jewelry work better in a shallow basket. Keys and hair clips work in a slightly deeper basket. So only be wrapping a few strips at a time and DO NOT GLUE YOUR END, JUST CLIP IT. If you decide you want more wraps, then glue the last end and continue on, leaving the last end, CLIPPED NOT GLUED.

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Loosely wrap the last few coils of basket to eyeball the final size. Want more? Wrap more. Good enough? Then we proceed to cutting and wrapping the very last bit. Since you have NOT GLUED the end of your last fabric strip, just clipped it, you have several inches of loose fabric flapping in the breeze. That is good.

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If you are happy with the size, sew to within 6 or 10 inches of your last wrap. Cut the cord AT AN ANGLE that will taper towards the basket. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE MORE FABRIC THAN CORD! If you have 1 inch of cord, you want 3 inches of fabric.

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Glue the last bit and wrap. Lots of glue.

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Wrap right past the end of the cord, folding your gluey fabric into a neat, flat flap.

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Clip the gluey, folded end.
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Sew your last length of cord onto your basket and use a poking device to keep your flat flap against the basket. Reverse and forward over this last inch to keep it secure.

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