How to Make a Fabric-Covered Basket

Fabric-covered baskets are a decoration that knows no season. They are easy to make and just as easy to change as the season changes. They also make great holiday gifts and hostess gifts. Sit down with your family this evening, and make some fabric-covered baskets. Read on to learn how to make a fabric-covered basket.

Things You'll Need

• Soft fabric scraps
• Plastic yarn needle with a large eye
• 3/8-inch to 1/2-inch stiff rope or crafter's coil
• Glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Duct tape or masking tape

Instructions

1. Tear the fabric into 1 1/2-inch strips. Tear across the grain for best results. Use the strips as if they were pieces of thread. Thread a strip into the eye of the plastic yarn needle.

2. Wrap the fabric around the rope overlapping a little bit each time. Work several inches, and then begin to coil the rope into a circle. Keep the circle tight.

3. Work 3 or 4 inches, then take a "stitch" into the nearest row. This anchors your coil in place. Keep building the bottom of your basket until it's the size you want. Remember to keep taking periodic stitches as well.

4. Begin building the sides in the same manner when the bottom is the right size. Instead of building the covered coils side-to-side, you are now building them on top of each other. Keep taking stitches in a balanced manner as well.

5. Join additional pieces of fabric with a spot of hot glue. Tap a bit of glue on the basket to hold the first piece of fabric in place. Cover it with another piece of fabric that's also got a spot of glue holding it in place.

6. Add additional pieces of rope by butting two ends of rope together. Hold them together with a small piece of duct tape or masking tape.

7. Finish the basket by hot-gluing the end out of sight inside the basket. You can also cut the last bit of rope at an angle so it merges seamlessly into the top of the basket.

8. Attach handles to the basket, if you like. Wrap fabric around a piece of rope. Glue both ends of the rope to the basket to form the handle.