Ever feel like you need more storage bins for all your odds and ends? I sure do! I had been on a quest to find a basket to hold my sewing fabric, and luckily I stumbled upon this rope basket tutorial from Childerhouse. I knew I had to make it. After all, I couldn’t leave my fabric sitting in a plastic bag now, could I?
Materials
-rope cord (3/16″, available at Home Depot)
-thread
Steps
Start by winding your cord into a tight spiral. You’ll want to start with the rope end on the left side, and wrap your spiral going clockwise.
Set your sewing machine stitch to zig zag (I used a medium-width stitch), then start sewing your rope from the center, where the rope end is. Make sure you’re sewing the edges of the rope together, otherwise you end up with gaps in your basket.
Once the spiral is large enough, tilt your bowl and sew the rope at an angle. If you want a bowl with perpendicular sides, tilt your bowl 90 degrees. For a shallower bowl, tilt the bowl at a shallower angle. This part was tough for me, so I had to do it over a couple times before I got it right. Practice makes perfect…right?
Keep sewing, until your basket reaches the desired height. To make a handle, mark off equal areas on your basket, and skip that portion when you’re sewing. Then on the next round, incorporate the rope back into the basket as the next layer. When you make a handle, you’re essentially making a hole in the basket, where the rope isn’t sewn.
I loved the blocks of color in this basket: they’re so fun. And this helped me use up all the remnant thread I had lying around at home. Not bad for a $6 spool of rope, right?
I ended up making 2 baskets: my first was giant and kind of unshapely. It’ll be the one that holds my fabric. The second is a small one that I use to hold my jewelry pliers. I bet it’d be great as a pencil cup too.
What would you want your rope basket to hold?
