Friday, June 19, 2015

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? Pretty Fabric Boxes...

Hi, all!

Well, it's Friday again!  Are you ready to get your whoop whoop on?  it's inspiration time!!

I've been working on a big project that I can't reveal yet, so instead I'm going to show you some of the "instant gratification" sewing I've done this week!  

When I was poking around on Instagram last week, I saw a whole lot of people making "One Hour Baskets".  I googled for the pattern and found out that it is available free on Craftsy (click the name above for the link!)  

And then I drank the Kool-Aid....


I started with these three, made with fat quarters of quilting weight fabric (that I found at TARGET, no less!) and heavyweight fusible interfacing...


Then I moved on to a box made with charm squares, some light quilting on batting, and an interfaced lining.  This one is a little smaller, and a bit more substantial.


And finally, I made this one with 2.5" squares patchwork and some pretty vintage linen for the base, all straight line quilted horizontally on batting.  The gingham lining is fused to heavyweight interfacing to give it added stability.

This is a fun pattern to make!  I will admit to making some alterations to it, though.  Instead of using two pieces of fabric to make the outside, I cut just one to what the finished size would be after the two pieces specified in the pattern were sewn together.  To me, the extra seam was unnecessary.  I did the same thing for the lining.   I also simply "boxed" my pieces to make the corners, rather than cutting a square out of each side, and left the triangles inside the bottom of the box, between the lining and the outside, to make it sturdier.

I made my handles out of a coordinating scrap fabric, so that I could use two fat quarters to make each basket.  And I cut my handles 6" x 9" instead of 5" x 9", and fold the edges all the way to the middle for added strength before topstitching.  (This will make sense if you read the pattern.)

Some other changes I will make in the future:  I think I want to add a piece of interfacing to the handle, or sew a piece of webbing on top to make it even stiffer.  They seem a little floppy for my taste.  I would also add a piece of batting and a little quilting to the plain boxes, like my first attempts, to make them a bit sturdier.

As far as the name, one-hour basket is pretty accurate - by the third basket in my first attempt, I could knock one out in about 35 minutes.  The second style took about an hour and fifteen minutes (the quilting adds a little bit of time) and the third style with the more extensive quilting took about an hour and forty-five minutes.

I'm working on size variations - trying to figure out exactly how big to cut the fabric to make specific sizes.  I'm sure there's an easy way to do that, and hopefully I'll get some quiet time to sit down and do the math soon!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

*&*&*&*&*&*&*

And now it's your turn!

What are you whooping about this week?


What's got you dancing the happy dance?

Share - because we want to dance right along with you!

(And it's always more fun to dance with friends!)

The party will end Sunday at midnight -

Hope to see you there!!

Hugs!

Sarah

22 comments:

  1. Great baskets. Good luck with your math!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great little baskets! I've had it on my to-do list also after seeing them all over instagram. I'll be watching to see your new alterations to the pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gorgeous baskets! They look quite useful. You mixed your fabric prettily. :-) Thank you for the link party. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are fantastic; I see baskets everywhere so I think I may try these for instant gratification as well!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful baskets! I'm seeing them pop up all over the place and am itching to find a reason to make some!

    ReplyDelete
  6. These fabric boxes look really useful I must check out the link!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've been meaning to try these boxes out. I need something I can teach to my little guild. Thanks for the extra ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  8. TARGET,
    Say what???
    Thanks for the tips, your baskets are really cute - esp. the patchwork!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oooh, these would be great to make for gifts for any occasion, and think of all the great things you could stuff them with. My first thought was 'baby shower.' They are so pretty! Thank you so much for sharing the alterations you made.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cute little baskets. Thanks for sharing the link.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good notes here, Sarah. Thank you. I will check these out. I do have some fabric nesting pails on my Q2 FAL that need to get done by June 30...so I will try these this summer!

    ReplyDelete
  12. CUTE little fabric boxes, Sarah! Good idea for gifts.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Your baskets are wonderful. Lovely idea!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What wonderful baskets! The quilted square one is so sweet, love the fabrics.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I haven't tried the one hour basket pattern yet but I love making baskets so I'll have to give it a try.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love your baskets!! I made one of these baskets last week too. It is a perfect fit for Cricut fabric.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me smile!! If you want a PDF of a pattern, PLEASE leave your email address in your comment, or email me directly at salliesue57 (at) gmail (dot) com!