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Make This Coiled Fabric Basket! |
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 This
project lets you incorporate a favorite fabric print into any room setting in a
unique way. But how do you stuff the fabric tubes? It’s easy with a tool
called FasTurn®, invented by
a dollmaker in Oregon. Once you sew strips of fabric into long tubes, FasTurn
allows you to turn the tube right side out and stuff if with cording or quilting
fleece, all in one fun and easy step!
The effect is especially interesting with striped fabrics,
resulting in a diagonal design because the fabric tubes are cut on the bias, or
diagonal grain. Experiment with basic African cotton prints. Heavier fabrics
like denim, mudcloth or home dec weights may not feed through the tube as
smoothly. |
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Adapted from the Dining Room chapter of African
Accents: Fabrics and Crafts to Decorate Your Home. [Learn
More]
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The project is versatile enough to fit into any room in the house, too -- simply
change the size, shape or fabric design: try a smaller, shallow bowl to hold
potpourri in a bathroom, or work up a larger, deeper style to hold needlework
supplies. You’ll find lots of uses for these light-duty containers, using
existing round, oval or square shaped containers as forms around which to coil
the fabric tubes.
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YOU’LL NEED:
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- 1 yard fabric (for a basket approx. 10 inches long x 7 inches
wide x 5 inches high)
- 4 yards of ¾ inch thick cotton cording
OR
1 yard low-loft quilting fleece (1/8-inch thick)
- FasTurn®
tube
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| To make continuous bias tubing: |
- Cut a 27x 27 inch square from the basket fabric. Cut the
square diagonally to form two triangles. With right sides together, edges even,
stitch a 3/8 inch seam. (Fig. 1) Press open.
- Mark cutting lines parallel to the long edges, starting 3”
in from one edge (point A) and spacing lines 3 inches apart.
- With right sides facing, bring together short edges so that
point A meets C and point B meets D. (Fig. 2) Stitch a 3/8 inch seam. This forms
a wide fabric tube, offset at each end by 3 inch. (Fig. 3) Press seam open.
Beginning at point A, cut along the lines you drew, rolling the tube around as
you cut, until all fabric is cut into a single continuous strip, 3 inch wide.
Cut off ends to square them.
- With right sides together, fold strip lengthwise. Sew tubes
with a 3/8 inch seam allowance, for a finished tube width of 1-1/8 inches.
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| To make the basket: |
- The FasTurn tube size #6 can accommodate approximately 3
yards of fabric tube at a time, so cut your continuous bias tube into pieces for
easier handling. Cut 8 fleece strips measuring 6 x 36 inches long. Roll the long
edges of the fleece strip so that it fits the FasTurn tube opening. Refer to the
FasTurn instructions for filling, turning and joining the fabric tube sections.
- Working on a pinnable surface, begin to coil fabric tube to
create the bottom of the basket. (Fig 4) Secure the desired shaping of the
basket base by pinning the coils together. As much as possible, keep the
lengthwise seam turned to the underside or inside of the basket as you pin the
coils together. OPTION: Shape your basket around an existing basket, box or
other container.
- When the base measures approximately 6 x 8 inches, begin to
gradually wind the fabric tubing upward and slightly outward. Build up to a
height of about 5 inches. When pinning the uppermost layer in place, tie knots
at each end for basket handles. After knotting the second side, cut fabric tube,
trim away 2 inches of the fleece, and tuck in the end of the fabric under the
knot or taper it off toward the inside of the basket; glue. Starting from the
center inside the basket, apply hot glue between the coils, pulling the pins out
as you go around. The basket coils can also be hand-stitched together with small
stitches.
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