The Glorified Scrap Basket tutorial

In January I made these simple but oh so useful baskets. The exterior is made entirely out of scraps from my stash, and I store the rest of the scraps of coordinating colours inside the finished baskets. Needless to say, by now I have a rainbow of scrap baskets!

I originally posted a tutorial for this basket on Instagram. I have gotten some requests to make it available for anyone outside of Instagram, so here it is, in a blog format!

Finished size: If you follow this tutorial exactly the basket will be 6 inches tall, 6 inches wide and 9 inches deep. It is easy to alter the size simply by altering the number of 2,5” squares in each row or column. To estimate the finished size before you sew you can subtract/add 2 inches to the finished measurements, per square you are subtracting/adding.

Part 1 – Preparing and sewing patchwork panel

Gather your supplies:

• 2,5 ” squares of quilting cottons in varying prints, 63 in total
• 1″ Cotton webbing (2 pcs 8 inch long)
• By Annie’s Soft and Stable (or similar foam interfacing)
• Binding clips
• Matching thread for topstitching
• Lining fabric

Arrange the 2,5″ squares in a 9×5 grid pattern.

Lay out a nine-patch (3 x 3 grid) to the centre top and bottom of your patchwork panel. These will be the basket’s back and front, so pay close attention to these. The left and right side of the patchwork panel will make the two sides, and the centre 3 x 5 pieces will be the underside.

Gather the pieces as you need, to make sure you sew them together they way you intended.

Part 2 – Make the Glorified scrap basket

Step 1. Sew the patchwork panel. Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance (used throughout, unless otherwise noted). Sew the 9 x 5 grid panel first, then make the two nine-patch blocks. Centre the two nine-patch blocks on each side of the panel, and sew each one. Press away from the centre.

Step 2. Cut your interfacing to the same size as your panel, around 18,5″ square with 6″ square corners cut out. Baste the panel to the foam interfacing (I used a glue pen and simply dabbed some glue on, basting row by row).

Step 3. Quilt as desired! Denser quilting gives a firmer basket. I quilted straight lines on both sides of each seam, about 3/16″ away from the seam lines. Baste the panel to the foam interfacing along all the outer edges.

Step 4. Cut your lining to the size of your quilted panel. Now it would be wise to skip over to step 6, and then go back to step 5, that will make it easier for you! I just did this in the “wrong” (as in most difficult) order when I made the pictures for this tutorial.

Step 5. Sew the corner seams of the lining and the exterior. Use a generous 1/4 inch seam allowance for the exterior, and a 3/8 inch seam allowance for the lining. Press the seams of the lining open.

Step 6. Baste the handles onto the top edge of the front and back sections, centered. I spaced the webbing ends 2 1/4″ apart from each other, and found that to be a good fit.

Step 7. Place exterior and lining right sides together, lining inside exterior. Sew all the way around, but remember to leave a 5″ gap along one of the longer sides, to allow for turning the basket right way out. Backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam.

Step 8. Turn right sides out, push the lining into the basket. Do not fold the upper edge down! Instead let the lining show on the outside, and use clips to create an even faux binding about 1/4″ – 3/8″ high, around the entire basket. Carefully fold the opening closed as well, mimic the way the rest of the binding looks to get an even result.

Step 9. Sew around the outer edge, close to the seam (or sew in the ditch if you prefer), closing the opening in the same process.

Now give your basket a nice press and it is ready to be put to use!!! Store your valuable scraps or anything else you fancy in these practical baskets, and you will be organised in no time!

A little optional final tip: If you want your corners to look nice and sharp, simply fasten 2-3 binding clips on each exterior corner and leave them on over night.