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Sew a Fabric Gift Basket

With Spring just around the corner, I thought I’d share how to sew a fabric gift basket. These homemade baskets make great gifts for all different occasions, holidays, and themes! I sew these DIY fabric baskets for everything from baby showers to teachers’ gifts and more. Add machine embroidery for a nice custom touch. Use these homemade fabric baskets for custom storage bins as well! Get the tutorial below on how to sew your very own fabric gift basket.

Supplies:

  • FS60X
  • NV180 was used for the embroidery
  • 1 yd. cotton fabric exterior
  • 1 yd. cotton fabric liner
  • 1-2 yds. fusible fleece
  • General sewing/cutting supplies

Cutting:

Exterior: 2 pieces that measure 17” (wide) x  13” long

Liner:  2 pieces that measure 17 x 13”

Fusible Fleece: 4 pieces that measure 17 x 13”

Strap: 1 piece 17 x 6”

Fusible Fleece: 17 x 6”

For the 2 piece (Blue Checkered)

Exterior: Top section: 17 x 3 x  ¾”

Exterior: Bottom section:  17 x 10 ¼”

The rest of the pieces measure the same as above.

Fuse the fusible fleece to the wrong side of all pieces.

Use a grid ruler and mark off a 3” square at the bottom corners for both exterior and liner and cut.

Place exterior and liner pieces right sides together. Stitch the sides and bottoms with a 1/2” seam allowance.

For the corners: With right sides together, connect the seam so it’s centered to the other side and clip or pin.

Stitch together and repeat for all corners. (1/2” seam allowance).

The bottom should look like this when complete.

Now let’s sew the handle.

Fuse the fleece to the wrong side.

Fold the sides into the center and press.

Fold in half so the edges are together and press.

Top stitch down both sides (about 1/8” from the edge).

Find the center front and center back  of the basket and mark. Place the handle right sides together with the basket over those marks and sew (1/4” seam allowance).

Flip the basket so right sides are out including the handle.

Place the basket into the liner so the right sides are together. Attach seams to seams and pin or clip all the way around.

Sew ½” seam allowance all the way around the edge leaving a 3” opening just an inch off one of the handles. This will be the opening to flip right sides outs.

Flip right sides out through the opening.

Press the basket. Top stitch with a 3.0 stitch length and just off the edge (1/8” or so) around the top edge of the basket, closing the opening as well.

Now fill your homemade gift basket with all sorts of goodies. I sew these fabric baskets for gifts, but they’re also great to use as homemade storage bins. You can add some machine embroidery to customize them. For the blue checkered basket, I embroidered the name on the top section. You can use this tutorial here for that portion. I also embroidered a sash to tie around the floral basket. Make these for all different occasions: I love sewing them for party favors, Mother’s Day gifts, and more. Use your imagination and take your homemade gift baskets to the next level of fun.

This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA.

The original article can be seen here: http://blog.brothersews.com/projects/sew-a-fabric-easter-basket/ 

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Sewing tips and ideas

Sewing Machine:

If you don’t have a sewing machine it’s a good idea to find one that best suits your sewing interests. Do you plan to sew garments, quilts, clothing, or something else entirely? What type of materials do you prefer working with? Are you interested in embroidery? So many options, and Brother has all the different machines to fit your needs. Also feel free to reach out to us ambassadors, we are happy to help!

Use your resources:

If you’re a hands-on learner like me, I suggest you look around your area for sewing studios that offer classes and camps. These are great for everyone! It’s ideal to have a space and time set up to learn without distractions.  I taught sewing for adults, and it was such a great way to learn. Within a week, students went from threading their machines to sewing simple projects (zipper pouches, tote bags, doll clothes).

Another great option is to learn sewing virtually! There are many resources offered online through sewing blogs and sewing websites. Check out Stitching Sewcial, where you’ll find step-by-step sewing tutorials, patterns, and tips to use that range from beginner to expert.

Start small:

It’s a good idea to start with a simple project before diving into a more advanced one. I remember one of my first sewing projects was to pick a pattern and fabric to go with it.  I went with a dress that required all the fixings and on top of that picked a plaid chiffon fabric.  BOTH of these were not “beginner friendly” and I found myself in over my head.  I was 12 and I can remember the frustration I felt when sewing that dress. Perhaps a gathered elastic skirt would have been a better first project at that time.

Consistency is Key:  I like to say “a little each day goes a long way!”  It takes time to hone your skill. Even the busiest of days I try to find 25-30 minutes to give to my craft. Whether it’s browsing a sewing blog for tips on using a cover stitch machine or laying out a sewing pattern and prepping to cut the next day. It surprises people how long even a simple sewing project can take and this is how I like to break it down.

Don’t skip the in between steps: When I first started sewing I would speed through my project like it was a race! I would skip the “annoying steps” I felt were unnecessary like pressing, and pattern markings, etc. These steps are as important as the sewing itself and can be the difference between a wobbly hem and a professional looking garment. While it may not get done as quickly you will see the difference in the overall result.

No rules:

At the end of all of this there are no rules. Have fun and be creative. Sewing is a personal journey after all and you will find your own ways that work for you. Perhaps “that fabric doesn’t work with that pattern” but it never stopped me anyways.

This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA. The original article can be seen here:http://blog.brothersews.com/sewing/national-sewing-month/

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Competitive edge over retailers on online and brick and mortar

In today’s economic globalization, many products are made readily available. In order to stand out from the competition, business owners have to provide customization and personalization for their merchandise.

Embroidery solution

Maximise your business opportunities with embroidery. Using the computerized embroidery machine, you can add creative embroidery designs to give a touch of uniqueness to the merchandise. Best of all, you can now create individual personalize merchandise for your customers.

You can customize your desired designs with a software and transfer the design to Brother’s range of commercial embroidery machines. Get greater creative freedom with enhanced lettering features, stitches and patterns when you work on compatible software. For example PE-Design 11.

Embroidery could be applied to a variety of items such as tee-shirts, canvas shoes, caps, tote bag and more.

Increase revenue and improved customer experience

Price may be one of the purchasing decision for a customer, however, the product and customer experience are important in the decision-making process. They are often willing to spend more for a similar product when they can get it personalized. This will also result in a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Find out how our embroidery solutions can help you to attract more customers.

https://www.brother.com.sg/en/contents/solution/embroidery

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Brother Launches Special Edition Hello Kitty Home Sewing Machine

Exclusive state-of-the-art sewing, quilting and embroidery machine combines creativity and technology with a touch of Hello Kitty

Good news to all Hello Kitty lovers out there! Brother has launched a special edition of Hello Kitty home sewing and embroidery machine, NV180K. This multi-function machine combines sewing, quilting and embroidery features with the latest innovation and technology.

NV180K sewing and embroidery machine comes with 134 built-in embroidery patterns that includes 54 exclusive Hello Kitty embroidery patterns Sanrio designed for Brother. NV180K, the 2nd generation of Hello Kitty sewing and embroidery machine, spot a 8.2 cm x 4.5 cm colour touchscreen LCD. This means users are able to do simple on-screen editing and operate the machine intuitively and easily. The machine’s 10 cm x 10 cm embroidery area provides ample space for sewers to enjoy the multiple built-in decorative stitches and embroidery designs at their own comfort. These new functions bring Hello Kitty fans and sewing enthusiasts to the next level of creativity.

The NV180K is the ideal machine for sewers at all skill levels. The automatic needle threading, drop in bobbin and easy bobbin winder system are features that will help seasoned and new sewers to quickly and easily set up the machine.

NV180K combines Brother’s quality and reliability with the latest innovations from the company’s state-of-the-art product development labs in Japan. The newly developed and Brother exclusive patterns are aimed at hobbyist and crafters from adults to children.