Christmas basket Click image to enlarge Designer: Susan Weinroth Transform a plain everyday basket into a both beautiful giftwrap AND a holiday keepsake, using just fabric and a few Fiskars tools, as I did here! Difficulty rating
Instructions (Print version)  1. Start by selecting a variety of fabric that you’d like to work with. I chose red and green prints to match my red basket. Also - Consider spray painting a basket to coordinate with your color scheme, if desired. 2. Next, measure the distance around your basket. This will be the length (plus an extra 2-3 inches) of the “wrap” that you are creating and quilting. 3. Use scraps or cut small pieces of a variety of your fabric selection and piece and pin together. Machine stitch. Iron seams flat/open on wrong side of fabric.
4. Cut batting and backing fabric the same size as pieced and seamed together wrap. Sandwich all together – backing fabric on bottom, then batting, then top pieced wrap on top, pin using quilters safety pins.
5. Quilt wrap by top-stitching ¼ or smaller from the seam between each piece of fabric. 6. “Square-off” your wrap to be the size (width) that you’d like for your basket.
7. Trim 2.5 inch wide strips of fabric to use as binding on wrap. Sew each together until you have one long enough strip to use around perimeter of wrap. Fold in half lengthwise and press with iron. Pin to topside of wrap, with folded edge facing rough “squared-off” part of wrap. Machine stitch down, around perimeter of wrap, leaving about 4 inches open with tails of binding strips. 8. Cut binding strips to fit into one another and pin. Continue machine stitching around perimeter.
9. Pull binding strips over to backside of wrap, pin, and use a blind stitch to secure to backside of wrap fabric. 10. After wrap is bound, secure it to basket using Velcro. Use fabric glue to adhere Velcro to wrap, and to basket.
11. MAKE LINING FOR BASKET: Trim piece of holiday fabric to fit interior of basket + extra room. Trim piece of contrasting fabric same size. Match right sides together and pin exterior. Machine stitch using ¼ seam and leave approx 4 inches open. Turn rightside out and iron, pressing open seam that is left, together. Use 1/8 topstitch around entire lining to secure. Place in basket.
12. Create gift tag to go with basket.
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