DIY Holiday Gift Basket Tutorial

Last Christmas I made some fabric baskets in fun, Christmas-y prints and snapped some photos so that I could also teach you how to make these quick baskets through this DIY Holiday Gift Basket Tutorial.

These fabric baskets measure approximately 6” by 9” and while they have a rectangular base, they do have a more oval shape at the top.  They are approximately 6” tall. 

Now, before we get too far into the scrappy patchwork and holiday theme of these baskets, you may be wondering, “Can I make this with a single fabric instead of patchwork?” 

Yep!  You bet! 

Also, solids, prints, children’s novelty fabrics, other holidays and any other fabric combo you can envision will work too!

Supplies Needed – DIY Holiday Gift Basket Tutorial

For one basket, you will need 1/3 of a yard interior fabric, 1/3 of a yard exterior fabric OR 26 3½” squares, one 2½” by 40” strip of binding fabric and 4 pieces of interfacing that measure 9” by 15”.

What kind of interfacing do I want?

You won’t like it, but there are multiple answers to this question.

Thicker/stiffer interfacing will make a stiffer basket.

Thinner interfacing will be easier to sew with.

Either way, I recommend fusible interfacing that you can iron your fabric to.

Now, I am making multiple baskets at the same time, so of course I have more supplies in this photo than what is listed above.

DIY Holiday Gift Basket Tutorial – Making the Outer and Inner Parts of the Basket

If using smaller fabric pieces for a patchwork basket, sew 5 squares together in a row (repeat 3 times to make 4 sets total) and sew 3 squares together in a row (repeat once to make 2 sets total).  Take note so that any directional fabrics are facing the correct direction during this step. 

Sew the rows together, these are the outer pieces of the baskets.  Note that the set of 3 is on the bottom.  Each basket requires two.  These measure 15½” by 9½” tall.

To make each basket, you need two of the outer pieces, two inner pieces (mine are single pieces of fabric but you could also do patchwork with 13 squares here too) that are also cut to 15½” by 9½” and four pieces of interfacing that are slighting smaller than the fabric pieces, measuring 15” by 9”.  (Keeping the interfacing out of the seams as much as possible will help the seams to be less bulky.)

Cut a 3¼” square out of the bottom corners of the inner fabric and the interfacing.

Interfacing

Iron the wrong side of all four fabric pieces of fabric to the four pieces of interfacing.  As much as possible, keep the interfacing ¼” from the edges of the fabric.

If quilting is desired, now is the time to do it.

I didn’t give myself enough time for this project to add the quilting step, and the baskets are plenty sturdy without it, but if you have the time and inclination to add some quilting, it will increase the lifespan of your basket, especially if you ever plan on washing it.

Place the two exterior fabrics (these are the patchwork ones) right sides together and pin both left and right sides as well as the bottom.  If using patchwork squares for your exterior fabrics, make sure to line up each seam and pin in place.

Sew along both sides and the bottom edge, ¼” from the edge.  As much as possible, you do not want interfacing in the seams, but if it happens occasionally, it’s okay.

Repeat with both the pair of exterior pieces and pair of interior pieces.

Boxing in the Corners to Make the Basket Stand Up

If you’ve made my 1 Hour Reusable Grocery Bags, you’ll recognize the boxing the corners part of the basket instructions.

Really, a grocery bag is just a basket with handles and no interfacing.

Line up the seam on the right with the seam on the bottom and pin into place.  This boxes in the corners when you sew this seam with a ¼” seam allowance.  Again, avoid the interfacing where possible and repeat with the left side.  Do this for both the interior pieces and exterior pieces.

Turn the exterior piece inside out so that the patchwork squares are facing out, but leave the interior piece as is with the interfacing facing out and the pretty fabric facing in.

Place in interior part of the basket into the exterior part of the basket.

I recommend sewing right around the raw edges to hold everything in place when adding binding, but this is optional.

Binding a Gift Basket

There are many ways to bind a quilt, and all can be used on these holiday gift baskets too.

When quilting, I prefer to machine sew my binding but have also written a tutorial for hand stitching binding.  My preference for machine binding has nothing to do with how the finished quilt or basket looks, but is entirely due to the pain that develops in the center of my palm from holding and using a needle for long periods of time.

Fortunately, the binding for these quilts is short and quick, so I was able to hand sew without pain.

I chose to machine sew my binding strip to the inner side of the basket.

And then to sit and watch some TV (Jamestown, from PBS, if you are wondering!  It’s a few years old, but I am really enjoying the – heavily fictionalized – look at life in early Colonial Virginia) while finishing the outer side of the binding with needle and thread.

Suggestions For Filling Your DIY Holiday Gift Baskets

These holiday baskets are a gift in and of themselves. Hopefully they will be used as holiday decoration for years to come. 

But, they are also perfect for filling with holiday goodies now!

I filled some of mine with soup and savory scone mix, others with sweet scones and hot cocoa mix, some with jars of soup, and one with books and snacks.

This is also a great place for a Homemade Journal, other Quilty Gifts, or even a Quilt Pattern and bundle of fabric!