Fabric woven Baskets

I had fun last weekend making some little woven baskets out of 2-1/2" batik strips. These baskets are often made out of paper such as magazines, newspaper, maps, potato chip bags etc. but I wanted to use fabric. I used interfacing to stiffen the strips and make them easy to weave.

Materials needed:

20 strips 2-1/2" x 21" (I used precut batik strips) Note: One Bali Pop makes four baskets.

40 strips 1/2" x 20" (1/3 yd.) Decor bond fusible interfacing

20 strips 1/2" x 20" (5/8 yd.) Heat and Bond Lite fusible web

Fabric glue, wonder clips or clothespins, scissors, thread

Prepare 20 Fabric Strips:

1. Fuse interfacing strips along each edge of the strips on the wrong side of the fabric. (yellow)

2. Press edges in to meet at center. (purple)

3. Fuse Heat 'n Bond web along one fold. (orange)

4. Peel paper off, fold in half and press. (turquoise)

Weave strips together - 10 vertical strips and 10 horizontal strips. Weave a thread or string around the edge of the woven section to mark the edge and hold the weaving in place.

On each side, weave the first 5 strips into the last five strips to make a diamond shape as shown. A new corner will form at the bottom of the diamond. Place a wonder clip or clothespin at the top to hold it in place.

Continue weaving to connect the sides.

Pull the strips to tighten and fold the strips down. Use wonder clips to hold the edge in place.

Weave the ends in on the inside of the basket. Use a point turner or crochet hook to help push the ends through.

Put a dab of glue between the layers along the top edge. Use big wonder clips to hold the layers tight until the glue is dry. Trim the ends inside the basket and your basket is finished!