I really wanted to make my two little ones Easter baskets this year and of course I went onto my favorite site Pinterest to see if I could find a quick and easy tutorial. I didn't manage to find any I liked but did learn a few tips from other tutorials I read and came up with my own.

This one I love because you can use your machine with a zig zag stitch and it's just a matter of how you angle the base as to how big and wide you want the basket to be. Once you do a few you'll get the idea how to make large and small ones.

So here are mine, arent they just gorgeous. Be warned, they are a little addictive, and I've probably bought all the cord they have in stock from my local patchwork shop to make these, and then some!

What you will need

• 6mtrs of White Cotton Piping Cord - I used Birch Haberdashery & Craft Size 4ml
• Scraps of fabric 1.5" Wide by 1/2mtr long. I used these sized scraps because I wanted more colour in my baskets. I did start with 1mtr long scraps but felt it needed more colour.
• Basic Sewing machine with the ability to do Zig Zag Stitch with 5.0 wide and 2.5 long stitch adjustment
• General sewing supplies: Clips or needles (Clips are best, you will see why) and good fabric scissors.

Putting it together

Start by laying your cord onto your first piece of fabric like so. Then sew over the cord onto the fabric to secure both together.

Then wrap your fabric around the cord and place a clip at the beginning like this.

Once you have the fabric wrapped around the cord a few times find a way to secure the end so you can continue to add more fabric. I used the draw underneath my desk. This way you can keep wrapping fabric around the cord without it coming apart.

When you come to the end of the fabric it will be time to add the next one. Place a clip on the end of the last one while you get the next one ready, this will make sure it won't unravel while you're adding new fabric.

Remove the clip while holding the last cord and fabric and place your next piece behind the last one and wrap around once or twice. Place your clip at this point to continue wrapping the next fabric around the cord. Continue doing this until you have 4 or 5 pieces of fabric wrapped around the cord.

Now you have your fabric and cord ready. Start your basket by rolling the beginning of the cord around anti clockwise like so.

Sew a zig zag stitch across this to start the basket. Do a reverse stitch once just to make sure this first roll is secure.

Start slowly stitching the cord together so the zig zag stitch stitches either side of the cord. This will form the join. Keep the sewn section to the lower left hand side of the machine foot pictured below as it will be easier for you to guide the basket around.

When you get to the next piece of fabric on the cord, remove the clip and keep on sewing.

In this picture you can see the zig zag stitch either side of the two cords. If you happen to miss it (like the section pictured) and take it out of the machine, place the basket back in half an inch before the missed section and start again.

How big do you want your basket? Well it depends on what your using it for. I wanted this for my kids Easter Hunting so I made the base approx 4.5" in diameter. Another one I did I wanted to use it for my business cards at the Markets so it was about 3" in diameter. It's completely up to you.

When you have decided on the size of your basket now it's time to start forming the wall. If you want a narrow wall you will raise your base in a 90 degree angle. If you want it wider than raise your basket lower say approx 45 degree angle.  These two pictures are different baskets. I raised the basket slightly to have a wide wall, and the other I raised almost touching the machine to get a narrow wall.

How tall do you want your basket? Again it's up to you, that's the beauty of this design. This one pictured is 3.5" tall and quite wide. But others I have made are 5" tall and narrow.

To finish the basket leave approx 2" of fabric for the end and cut off any excess cord.

Wrap it around and place a clip near the end.

Then place the end of the cord and fabric inside the basket along the last sewn line. Sew this together so your current sewn line meets the last one on the inside of the basket.

And there it is, all finished!

Adding a handle

If you want to add a handle you'll need to measure how big you want it to be. Do this by simply getting your measuring tape and two clips. Clip one end to the top of one side, and then clip the other directly across to the top of the other side of the basket.

Then mark the length by using another clip and start wrapping fabric around the cord exactly the same way in the first two steps.

Then sew three even lengths like so and finish off the same way as you did on the basket to finish the handle. Trim off any excess fabric.

Then attach this to the basket using a zig zag stitch on one side. Attach the other side in the same way.

Now you're finished! Nice work x

You can make so many of these, they are a little addictive. Large or small, wide or narrow it's up to you depending on what you want to use them for. Enjoy this and make sure you share your creations on Facebook, I just love to see my creations done by others.

Thanks again

Candice xxx