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3 felt baskets with school supplies in them
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Felt Nesting Baskets for Storage

A set of nesting felt baskets for storage of art supplies, toiletries, and more! Made with felt, these come together quickly and are a great beginner sewing project.
Prep Time5 minutes
Active Time10 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Yield: 1 basket
Cost: $2

Equipment

  • sewing machine
  • scissors
  • measuring tape
  • pins
  • marker
  • sewing needle
  • ruler or straight edge

Materials

  • 1 12"x12" piece stiff felt for basket exterior
  • 1 12"x12" piece felt for basket lining (interior)
  • thread
  • 2 buttons

Instructions

  • Follow the guide in the notes section to cut your felt to the correct size. I'm making a 6-inch basket so the measurements stated in the tutorial will be for one that size.
    For the best visual tutorial, watch my step-by-step video that plays at the beginning of the post under the first image.
    felt, scissors, pins, measuring tape, ruler, fabric marker, felt and buttons
  • Stack the 2 squares, line up the edges, and add a few pins to keep everything in place. Note: if you are using patterned felt, make sure the right side of the fabric is on the outside.
    Machine stitch around all four sides using the pressure foot on your machine as a guide (3/8"). Trim the threads.
    pinned felt in sewing machine
  • Now we're going to make the bottom of the basket and sides by creating corners. To do this, fold the square in half with the lining (wrong side) on the outside and the fold on the bottom.
    easter basket fabric folded in half
  • Measure 2.5” on the bottom and mark it with a pencil or sewing pen. Measure 2.5” on the side and mark it as well.
    Note: Remember that I'm making a 6" basket so I'm following the measuring guide for that. If you are making a 4" or 5" basket use the measurements in the notes section at the bottom of the tutorial.
    hand marking 2.5" point on fabric
  • Connect the two markings with a diagonal line, forming a triangle.  Repeat for the other side.
    hand using a ruler to draw a line on fabric with fabric marker
  • Machine stitch along the diagonal lines.
    Fold the fabric in half the other direction and mark the other two corners 2.5” up and 2.5” along the bottom.  Machine stitch along the diagonal lines. 
    sewing easter basket corner in sewing machine
  • Cut each corner seam on a diagonal ¼” away from the seam using scissors or a rotary cutter.
    scissors cutting off excess fabric in corners
  • Your basket should look like this (see photo).
    hand holding inside out easter basket
  • Turn your basket right-side-out, pushing out corners and creasing side seams to create a basket shape.
    Fold each flap over.
    hands folding over flap on easter basket
  • Pin flaps into place.
    easter basket flap pinned
  • Thread a needle with matching thread and tack each side down with two stitches in the center. Tie a knot on the back and trim the thread.
    flap of easter basket folded over
  • Place a button on top of the flap and sew the button into place. Repeat on the other side of the basket.
  • Trim off any loose threads.
    3 felt baskets with school supplies in them

Video

Notes

Cutting and Measuring Guide:
  • 4-inch basket: cut 2 (8") squares of felt. One for the outside and one for the lining. In step 4, measure 1.5" corners.
  • 5-inch basket: cut 2 (10") squares of felt. One for the outside and one for the lining. In step 4, measure 2" corners.
  • 6-inch basket: cut 2 (12") squares of felt. One for the outside and one for the lining. In step 4, measure 2.5" corners.
To Make Even More Sizes:
If you want a 7" basket you'll double that length to create the felt square size that you need. For example 7" basket = 14" felt squares. 8" basket = 16" felt squares.
Add 1/2" to the corner measurement for every inch you increase the basket size. For example, a 7" basket would have 3" corners, an 8" basket would have 3.5" corners, and a 9" basket would have 4" corners.