Hey there! Today we have a slightly different companion tutorial to the Mudroom Quilt Pattern. I have done several free pillow and wall hanging tutorials which could easily be applied to this quilt pattern, but I wanted to try something different.
I have always dreamed of having a beautiful Fiddle Lead Fig tree in the corner of our dining room. The boys are finally old enough to know not to mess with the plants that are at their eye level - so I went for it! I was super lucky to find such a pretty, full tree at our local nursery.
I wanted to cover the ugly plastic pot it came in so I thought I would play around with creating a basket myself. This tutorial assumes you have some basic bag-making or sewing skills. I really just made this up as I went so there were definitely some issues that I'll mention as I go. Feel free in improve where you need to as well! Think of this as more of a guide instead of actual instructions.
Supplies:
- ( 5 ) 8 ½" x 11" sheets of paper
- Tape
- Background 2 Yards 60" wide cotton duck canvas (or similar heavy fabric)
- Mudroom Quilt Block (See pattern for yardage)
- Stabilizer (fusibile or not if you decide to quilt it!)
Optional Supplies:
Cutting:
- Start by measuring your plant. You will want to tape four sheets of paper together, grab a sharpie and trace around the bottom of your plant.
- Next I added 2" to the perimeter of the outline to make sure it would be big enough once it was all sewn together.
- Cut out your circle, measure and calculate the circumference. (Remember in school when you learned circumference and you thought you wouldn't use it? Yeah - here's your moment. Thanks Mr. Thele. Multiply to diameter by 3.14)
- Next cut out the bottom of your basket. You will leave your fabric folded so that you cut two circles. One for the lining and one for the outside of the basket. Set aside.
- Measure the height of your plant and add a few inches to that as well. I wanted mine to finish around 17".
- Cut your side panels next. Add ½" to the finished height and ½" to the circumference. For me that meant 17 ½" High x WOF since my fabric was 60". Set these aside until you have made your Mudroom Quilt Block.
Assembly:
- Follow the instructions in the Mudroom Quilt Pattern to make your quilt block. I wanted a little breathing room above and below the quilt block once it was sewn into the basket so I trimmed my block down to 12 ½" x 12 ½".
- This meant that next I needed to add a 2 ½" strip on the top and bottom of the quilt block to get make it the same height as my side panels which are 17 ½" high.
- Sew the quilt block to one end of your side panel.
- Lay out your long strip and trim to the length of your circumference. (This is where you will want to baste and quilt the outside of your basket if you want to do so! You can also fuse the stabilizer to this piece now as well.)
- Sew the other end of the side panel to the other end of the quilt block so that you have one large loop.
- With right sides together, sew the bottom basket circle onto the loop. Press and turn it right side out. You have the outside of your basket!
- Follow steps 4-6 again for the lining of the basket. Leave it wrong side out when you're finished.
- Insert (what will be) the finished outside of your basket into the lining of the basket so that right sides are together. (If I had added the stabilizer when I should have that's what you would be seeing here fused to the wrong side of the basket exterior. If you are quilting yours You'll be seeing the back side of that quilted piece.)
- Sew around the top with a ⅜" - ½" seam allowance for a sturdier seam.
- Grab your seam ripper and cut a small opening into the lining of the basket. Turn the basket right side out through the hole and sew the opening in the lining shut again. I did a simple stitch on the machine since it's on the lining inside the basket you won't see it. You can do an invisible hand stitch if you prefer a cleaner finish.
- Stuff the lining down into the basket and you should be done! (Again, I should have added the stabilizer previously so my basket here on the ironing board looks really flimsy. Once I stuffed in the stabilizer it could stand up on it's own.)
You can add handles if you want! I found these leather handles on amazon. As you saw in the photos - I made a mistake when I first finished my basket. I didn't add the stabilizer so I had to stuff some in through the hole in the lining. Looking back I wish I had fused the lining to the stabilizer so that the outside would be a little looser and not so rigid.
As I said - this isn't perfect, but I hope it's at least a helpful guide to making your own. All planters are different sizes so you'll want to adjust as you need to for your plant. Another idea I thought would be nice is a cuff around the top edge. If you try this let me know! I think it could be a really great addition.
Share you makes with me on Instagram! Happy sewing!
Your planter basket is such a fun idea! Thanks for the tutorial.