Fabric Storage Buckets

Free Tutorial and Pattern

Easter is early this year and I feel very behind with my preparations.  We host lunch after church on Easter Sunday and each family always receives a small handmade gift.  I don't have time to go into overdrive this year, so instead I've decided to stitch up some quick and easy fabric gift baskets, which we'll be filling with little chocolate bunnies and chicks!

I've stitched a clear vinyl window to the bucket fronts, to hold a small Easter gift label, giving them that lovely personal touch which our guests should love!  

If you don't have any suitable vinyl (I upcycled mine from a thrifted toddler's activity book) then the baskets also make excellent storage buckets.  They can be stitched up in less than an hour and, if you don't add a vinyl window, they're also completely reversible! 

The tutorial gives a choice of two methods for creating the square bucket bottom, the first has the shaping included in the pattern piece, the second shapes the corners after stitching the side seams - Simply pick the technique which best suits your way of doing things :)

Tutorial

Materials

Pattern Piece

Two 34 x 20cm rectangles of contrasting fabrics

One 34 x 20cm rectangle of light weight iron-on interfacing

Method One

1.  Create paper pattern using the dimensions shown and then cut your two fabric pieces in contrasting (or coordinating!) colours.  Apply interfacing to reverse of outer fabric.

2.  Fold first rectangle in half as shown and stitch both side seams with a scant 1cm allowance.  Press seams open.

3. Fold in bottom corners as shown and stitch, again using a scant 1cm seam allowance. 

4. Repeat these steps with second rectangle.  Then place both pieces together, one inside the other, with right sides together.

5. Pin securely and machine stitch, remembering to leave a small turning gap!  Turn through to right side and hand sew gap closed with a ladder stitch.  Your bucket will now look like this; 

6.  Tuck lining inside bucket, then turn down top by a couple of centimetres, creating a lovely contrasting border..

...and that's it!!

Method Two

1. Cut two rectangles measuring 34 x 20cm from your contrasting fabrics.  Fold in half and stitch all side seams.

2.  Fold each rectangle in half and trim off corners 3.5cm from bottom point, then stitch as shown in photo above.  Now simply continue following steps 4-6 from method one.

See, I told you they were quick and easy!

Happy Easter!



Zingy Spring Colours...

And Lovely Linen!

Specs Appeal!

Embroidered Glasses Case 

 

I'm pretty rushed off my feet at the moment with 'family stuff', so sewing and blogging seems to have taken a bit of a back seat but I did find time yesterday to whip up this cute glasses case.  It's part of a handbag set for a friend who's poorly, I shared the matching zipper pouch in my last post and I've also stitched up a little tissue holder although I forgot to take any pictures of that one!

The case is quite large so can also be used for holding statement sunnies

(If we actually get a summer worthy of wearing sunglasses this year!)  

 As ever, it's very much an upcycled project, using faux suede taken from an old sofa, a hair bobble for a closure and a vintage button from the 1950s!  Protection is provided by a layer of pure cotton wadding left over from a previous quilting project.

Happy Sewing!