Coiled Fabric Baskets

Finally something new to show you. A member of my FiberWorks group gave a demo a few months ago on how to make fabric coiled baskets. I thought that it looked like fun, but somehow never got around to trying it until this week while stuck in the house with frigid weather and a blizzard.

They really are easy to do. I made this blue one first. Strips of fabric cut on the cross grain are wrapped around clothesline then sewn on the machine. If you go online you can find a lot of directions. There are different variations and you have to find what suits you best. For this one I wrapped a lot of clothesline while watching TV, using blue and yellow print scraps. I rarely use prints in my quilts anymore, but I have bins of them stored under the guest room bed.

The base of this one is eight inches wide and uses a straight side technique. It makes a pretty big basket, good for fruit or balls of yarn.

I made coiled handles separately and glued them on with acrylic medium. 

This one was made with a 3 1/2 inch base and I wound the fabric as I sewed so that I could get a striped effect. I changed thread color as I changed fabric. I tipped the bowl as I got to the top so that the edges turn in, sort of like pottery. This is narrower and taller than the blue one.

Here you can see the different fabrics I used. I sent away for a book from Amazon, which has some good directions. Next I want to try a square. My friend also made a very cute chicken that I am going to copy with some color variations.

I'm linking up with Off the Wall Friday. Please go see what some talented people are doing.