The Best Square Basket You Can Sew – free tutorial

Sew up a cute square basket that’s perfect for keeping, giving away, organizing your home, and showing off to all your friends!

This easy basket tutorial is doubly amazing because it is totally fat quarter friendly. All you need to make it is two coordinating fat quarters and 1/2 yard of fusible fleece.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Best Square Basket Pattern is included in the blog post below and is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

This easy-to-sew basket is approximately 8’’ square at the bottom and the side are about 4 1/4’’ tall.

For my baskets, I used fusible fleece as a stabilizer because it’s easy and cost effective. I needed a simple project to take my mind off other things and this was perfect!

If you want a more sturdy basket you could use foam stabilizer (such as ByAnnie Soft and Stable). You would need to baste the stabilizer to the fabric around the edges instead of fusing it. Here’s a video that shows you how.

So are you ready to make a cute square fabric basket? Here’s how…

The Best Square Basket You Can Sew – Free Tutorial

You will need:

• 2 coordinating fat quarters of fabric (fat quarters are 18’’ x 22’’ – if they are not available, you will need to purchase 1/2 yard of fabric off of the bolt)
• 1/2 yard fusible fleece (such as HeatnBond fusible fleece, 20’’ wide)
• fabric marker or tailor’s chalk
• a large safety pin to turn the handles right side out

Cutting

From each fat quarter, cut:

• 1 square 17’’ x 17’’
• 2 rectangles 2’’ x 9’’ (for the handles)

One fabric will be the basket and handle exterior, and the other fabric will be the basket and handle lining.

From the fusible fleece, cut:

• 1 square 17’’ x 17’’
• 2 rectangles 2’’ x 9’’ (for the handles)

Use a ruler to mark and cut 4 1/2’’ squares from the corners of the 17’’ square of fusible fleece.

Preparation

1. Fuse the fusible fleece to the wrong side of the 17’’ square that you want to be the inside of your basket.

Tip: if you decided to use flexible foam stabilizer instead, pin the stabilizer in place and then baste around the sides 1/8’’ from the edge to secure it.

2. Use the fabric marker or tailors chalk to connect the inside points and draw an 8’’ square (approximate is fine).

3. Sew around the marked square, stitching right on top of the lines that you drew.

Sewing

1. Place the two 17’’ squares right sides together and pin around all of the sides.

2. Begin sewing at one of the corners, using a 1/4’’ seam allowance.

Make sure to backstitch at the starting point.

Sew all the way around the square, pivoting at the corners. End sewing 4 1/2’’ before reaching the first corner. This means you can stop sewing at the edge of the interfacing and leave a 4 1/4’’ opening for turning the basket.

Be sure to backstitch at the ending point.

3. Clip the corners to reduce bulk. Turn the piece right side out through the opening. Press it flat, taking care to push out all the corners and edges. Turn the edges at the opening to the inside by 1/4’’ and press.

4. Topstitch all the way around the piece 1/8’’ from the edge, sewing the opening closed at the same time.

5. Turn the piece over to the lining side (where you can see a square sewn in the middle) and pin through all layers on each side of the sewn square.

Sew in a square again, right on top of the first square. This time you will sew through all layers so the basket lining won’t be baggy.

6. On the side of the piece with your exterior fabric, use your fabric marking pen or tailor’s chalk to extend the lines of the stitched square to the edges of the piece.

These markings will make 4 1/4’’ squares at each corner.

7. Fold the piece in half diagonally, and take care to line up the marked lines and the edges at one corner. Pin.

8. Sew along your marked line. Make sure you backstitch at the top and at the bottom.

You have now formed one corner. Repeat to form the rest of the corners.

Set the basket aside while you make the handles.

Make the Handles

1. Fuse the fusible fleece interfacing to the wrong side of the two 2’’ x 9’’ strips of fabric that will be the top side of the handles.

2. Place a handle piece right sides together with a handle lining piece and pin.

3. Sew along both long edges with a 1/4’’ seam allowance.

4. Attach the safety pin to the interfaced side of the handle piece. Turn the safety pin down inside the handle and use it to gently turn the handle right side out.

5. Topstitch along both sides of the handle, 1/8’’ from the edge.

Repeat to make the other handle.

6. Insert one end of the handle about 1/4’’ – 1/2’’ down into the center of one of the triangles at the corner of the basket. Pin to secure.

7. Stitch along the top edge of the triangle – just where the handle is inserted – so that the handle will be held in place.

8. Make the handle form an ark over to an adjacent corner triangle. The exterior fabric should be showing on top. If not, attach the handle to the other adjacent triangle.

Insert the end of the handle 1/4’’ – 1/2’’ into the center of the corner triangle as before, and pin.

Stitch across the top of the triangle, just to sew the end of the handle in place.

9. Fold the corner triangles toward each other and smooth them against the side of the basket. Pin them to the side of the basket.

The tips of the triangles may overlap a little bit and that is fine.

10. Topstitch across the entire side of the basket to sew the corner triangles in place as well as secure the handle more firmly.

Repeat to sew the remaining handle to the other side of the basket.

And you are done!

As always, I love to see what you make with my tutorials, and I’d especially love to see what you put in your square baskets! Please post a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe or #sewcanshe so I can take a look.

Happy sewing,