Holiday Tutorial: Nero's Post and Patch

Today's Holiday Tutorial is from Teje who blogs at Nero's Post and Patch.  Teje is very talented and creative!  She pretty much does it all, sewing, quilting, painting, gardening, knitting...I'm leaving a ton out.  She lives in Greece and therefore also takes some pretty beautiful pictures of her work.  We've gotten to know her through blogland and Fabric Tuesday and I have to say she is so genuinely sweet and kind.  Make sure to see some of her other tutorials, patterns, quilts and lots more.  Thank you so much Teje! The baskets are wonderful!

"LITTLE TREES" - fabric baskets

I'm very happy to join today "HOLIDAY Tutorials SERIES"! Thank you so much Megan and Heather for inviting me!

Little scrap trees are great for many projects and they make fun picture on a fabric basket. I'm not very patient with patterns and exact measurements, so usually I try to find on my own how to make something. I'll show you how it's easy to make any size of fabric basket!

CUTTING - SEWING THE MAIN PIECE - QUILTING

- cut first the bottom (use a plate or something else to draw the circle)

- my bottom piece is 8.5" diameter

- cut the same size from wadding and thin fabric (this helps to quilt your piece)

- I have a little bit thicker poly wadding and I use very thin material on the backside to make the quilting easier

- cut for the main piece 3" x 25" from beige and 5" x 25" from white or other low volume fabric, sew these pieces together

- I used for the beige fabric mixed linen but all the fabrics can be quilting cottons or any fabrics you like

- cut also for the main piece the same size from wadding and a thin fabric

- quilt the bottom with continuing circle stitching and the main piece with wavy stitching which looks like snowy ground

- trim your pieces but don't try to trim the main piece in exact size yet (we check the size later)

! Look the 4th photo above: it's easy to measure the size around the bottom after quilting. This way you can easily make any size fabric baskets. Just make first the bottom (round or oval) and then measure what size main piece you need. Make your main piece always a little bit bigger and trim it later to the exact size.

MAKING THE PICTURE WITH SCRAPS

- take your scraps and start to make trees and houses - whatever you like to have in your picture

- sew around the trees and houses with simple stitching

- you can sew them with continuing stitching, just stitch till the next triangle and continue, doesn't matter if you stitch some lines twice

- sew the trunks for the trees, up and down several times (some sik sak if you like) - move to the next tree without cutting the threads (cut them all after finishing the all the trunks)

- if you like you can add some fabric stripes to create ground

CHECKING THE SIZE - LINING - SEWING THE BASKET

- when you have finished your picture, pin the bottom on the down edge of the main piece (right sides together)

- DON'T SEW YET - this is just to measure how long the main piece has to be exactly

- mark the right size, take away the pins and trim the main piece

- cut the lining using your bottom and main pieces as templates - look the photo below

- quilting always change the size of the pieces, so it's better to cut the lining after the pieces are quilted to get the right size

- sew the lining (make some tiny cuts around the bottom, so it 'fits' better)

- sew the quilted bottom with the main piece (make again those tiny cuts)

BINDING

- put the lining inside the fabric basket, set it well on the bottom and put few pins around the up edge, trim the edge of the lining

! You can make the binding single or double folded (depends on your fabric)

- if you make the binding with thicker fabric, cut for single binging 2.5" x 24" strip

- put the strip around the fabric basket, mark the length and sew edges

- pin the stripe outside on the fabric basket and sew it

- turn the binding inside, fold the edge of the binding and then fold it once again

- pin the binding so that it covers the earlier stitching

- for me it's easier to put the pins first inside to find the right place and then before sewing I change them outside

- sew from outside just next to the binding

- if you make the binding with quilting cotton, cut for double folded binding 3" x 24" strip

- fold your strip double and press it with iron

- pin it outside on the fabric basket and sew (raw edges together)

- turn the binding inside and pin it so that it covers the earlier stitching

- sew from outside just next to the binding

I hope this tutorial inspires and helps you to make different sizes fabric baskets! Have fun making your own pictures on them!

Happy Holiday Sewings!

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