How to Sew a Gift Basket for Christmas

My daughter in law recently had a major declutter prior to putting her house on the market. One of the items she was throwing out was a damaged fabric basket. It was so pretty. It made me think that maybe I could make a festive one using Christmas fabric. 

The original had cardboard to stiffen it, I've used interlining so it can be washed.

I've also used the original dimensions and it can be made with 2 fat quarters. The size of the basket would be really easy to adapt. This is a really easy basket to make. It is basically 2 squares and 8 ties, with interfacing to stiffen it.

It would make a lovely gift filled with toiletries or could be filled with Christmas treats. Chocolate, mince pies, shortbread.

Just by changing the fabric it would make a lovely basket to fill for a new baby or a birthday or mothers day. 

The instructions below are for cotton fabric, other types of fabric may need the pattern adapted. I chose 2 complimentary Christmas fabrics.

What You Will Need

Basic sewing equipment

Sewing machine

Scissors

Tape measure

Pins

Thread

Iron and ironing table

Rotary cutter and cutting mat - optional

2 Fat quarters of fabric (Tip. Small patterned fabric disguises any sewing mistakes!)

Heavy duty iron-on interlining (66cm x 19cm)

4 pieces of A4 paper or equivalent to make template

Sellotape

Instead of making ties you could use ribbon just miss out steps 5 and 7. You would need approx 3m of 10mm wide ribbon. Cut the ribbon into 8 pieces the same length.

Instructions

1.  From the interlining cut;

2 pieces 19cm x 19cm   (A)

4 pieces 7cm x 18.5cm. (B)

I used a rotary cutter and mat but scissors would be fine.

2.   Make a template that measures 36cm x 36cm. I used A4 paper and stuck the 4 pieces together. This allowed me to use the corners and sides of the paper to make a perfect square.

3.   This is how the pieces will be cut from the fabric. Use the pattern below as a guide.

4.  Iron the fabric first and using the template cut one square from each piece of fabric. Keep as close to one edge of the fabric as you can as the ties will be cut from what's left.

5.  Cut 8 strips measuring 2.5cm by 40cm using just one of the fabrics.

6.  On the main pieces of fabric, using a hot iron, fold over each edge about half a centimetre. 

7.   For the ties use a hot iron to fold the long edges of the strips towards the centre, about a mm. Then fold the strip in half along its longest length. I found that the ironing board got very hot doing this so I changed the position of each strip to allow the board to cool. Sew along the edge folding one end in to neaten it. 

8.   To centre the interlining on the fabric fold the interlining (A) in half and gently crease each end then fold it the other way and gently crease.

9.  Fold the fabric in half and iron a small crease at each side. Do the same the other way.

10.   Place the interlining on the wrong side of the fabric lining up the crease marks. Iron in place. Do this to both pieces of fabric.

Unfortunately the top and bottom crease marks did not photo so well

11.   Position the 4 other pieces around the centre leaving a small gap between. Iron in place.

12.   Place the 2 pieces of fabric wrong sides together matching edges and pin. Insert a tie at each end of interlining (B). Make sure you insert the unfinished end!

13.   Sew about 1mm from the edge making sure that the ties are not caught up in the seams and removing pins as you go.

14.  Finish all the loose ends. Make a knot and a bow with the ties. 

The basket is reversible. Fill the gift basket with goodies of your choice.

This is such a pretty basket and I thought I would fill it with nuts or wrapped sweets. It would also make a lovely bread basket or filled with pine cones a lovely centre piece. What would you fill it with?

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