Fabric Storage Basket Pattern Maker
A fabric basket is a home for toys, yarn, laundry or whatever needs one. It is a bag with a firm base, a padded or stiffened layer for body, and a cuff folded over at the top.
Choose a round or boxed base, set the size, the cuff depth and the handles, and pick the layer that gives it body.
Make it yours: Change the width, height, depth, the top (open, drawstring, roll-top, zip), the handle length and the pockets.
Make this pattern in your size →When to choose this one
Choose this one when the bag is really a container: a basket for toys, yarn, laundry or towels that has to keep its shape. The padded or stiffened layer and the fold-over cuff are part of its starting points, and the base can be round or boxed.
If you want something carried by straps rather than left on a shelf or the floor, start from the tote.
What you can change
Size
- Width: 6–70 cm (2⅜–27½″). Diameter across the base, side to side. This is the full width of a circle.
- Height: 8–90 cm (3⅛–35⅜″). Finished, from the base to the top edge.
- Base depth: 0–30 cm (0–11¾″). Front to back for an oval base. Leave at 0 for a circle (the same as the width).
Sizes are typed in centimetres, millimetres or inches. The starting size is Width 28 cm (11″), Height 24 cm (9½″), Base depth 0 cm (0″).
Options
- Base: flat, boxed or round
- Top: open, drawstring, roll-top, fold-over cuff, zip or flap
- Layer: None · Padded or stiffened · Insulated
- Switches: Handles, Lined, Interfacing
- Measurements and counts: Cuff depth, Handle length, Handle width
Starting points
These are sizes and settings to begin from, and every one stays fully editable. Type your own measurements, or start from the nearest one.
| Starting point | Finished size, cm | Same starting point in round inches |
|---|---|---|
| Storage basket · round | 28 cm across × 24 cm high | 11″ across × 9½″ high |
| Storage basket · square | 26 × 22 × 20 cm | 10 × 8½ × 8″ |
The bag pattern has 23 starting points in all; the other 21 are in the maker.
Cutting list
At the starting size (Width 28 cm (11″), Height 24 cm (9½″), Base depth 0 cm (0″)) the pattern has these pieces. Fabric sizes include seam allowance, interfacing is cut to the stitching line, and pieces cut on the fold are shown opened out. Each size is the width and height of the piece as cut.
| Piece | Fabric | Cut | Size to cut | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side band | Main fabric | 1 | 89.96 × 33 cm (≈35⅜ × 13″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Side band | Lining | 1 | 89.96 × 33 cm (≈35⅜ × 13″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Side band | Interfacing | 1 | 87.96 × 31 cm (34⅝ × ≈12¼″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Side band | padding (fleece, batting or foam) | 1 | 87.96 × 31 cm (34⅝ × ≈12¼″) | Rectangle: cut by measurement or from the print |
| Round base | Main fabric | 1 | up to 30 × 30 cm (up to ≈11¾ × ≈11¾″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Round base | Lining | 1 | up to 30 × 30 cm (up to ≈11¾ × ≈11¾″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Round base | Interfacing | 1 | up to 28 × 28 cm (up to ≈11 × ≈11″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Round base | padding (fleece, batting or foam) | 1 | up to 28 × 28 cm (up to ≈11 × ≈11″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Handle | Main fabric | 2 | 12 × 27 cm (≈4¾ × 10⅝″) | Strip: cut by measurement |
| Handle interfacing | Interfacing | 2 | 6 × 22 cm (≈2⅜ × ≈8⅝″) | Strip: cut by measurement |
You will also need: Handles (alternative); Padding; Thread. The cover page and materials list give the amounts for your size.
The maker’s fabric estimate at this size: Main fabric about 0.7 m of 112 cm fabric; Lining about 0.7 m of 112 cm fabric.
How it goes together
These are the maker’s own instructions at the starting size. They change with the options you pick, and the PDF carries the full set with the cover, cutting list and materials list.
- Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the outer pieces, inside the seam allowance, and a handle interfacing strip down the middle of each handle.
- Attach the padding to the wrong side of every outer piece: fuse it if it is fusible, otherwise baste it within the seam allowance. It is cut to the stitching line so the seams stay thin. Use a longer stitch from here on.
- Make the handles: press the strip in half lengthwise, open it, fold both long raw edges in to meet at the crease, then fold in half again so it is 3 cm wide. Edgestitch along both long sides. Make both the same length.
- Outer: put the band right sides together with itself and sew the side seam at 1 cm. Press the seam open.
- Outer base: pin the base to the bottom of the band, right sides together, the base’s top mark at the band’s seam and its other marks at the band’s quarter marks. Sew round at 1 cm, snipping the band’s allowance every 1.5 cm so it eases round the curve.
- Lining: sew it the same way but leave the turning gap between the side seam notches open.
- Lining base: pin the base to the bottom of the band, right sides together, the base’s top mark at the band’s seam and its other marks at the band’s quarter marks. Sew round at 1 cm, snipping the band’s allowance every 1.5 cm so it eases round the curve.
- Turn the outer right side out and leave the lining wrong side out.
- Slip the outer inside the lining, right sides together. Match the side seams and sew round the top at 1 cm.
- Turn the bag right side out through the gap in the lining, edgestitch the gap closed and push the lining down inside. Press the top edge.
- Fold the top 7 cm down over the outside, so the lining shows as the cuff. Press the fold, and pull the cuff down so it sits level all round. Topstitch 0.6 cm from the top fold if you like.
- Press each handle end 1.2 cm under. Pin the two handles to the outside of the bag, one on the front and one on the back, over the notch positions, each end 2.5 cm below the folded top edge, untwisted. Sew a box with a cross through it on each end, through the cuff and the bag together.
Fabric suggestions
Outer: Canvas, duck, denim, heavy linen, upholstery-weight cotton, or quilting cotton with interfacing.
Lining: Quilting cotton, poplin or lining fabric.
Interfacing, padding or other layers: Medium fusible interfacing or fusible fleece on lighter outers. Interface the handles too unless they’re cut from canvas. Padded: fusible fleece for a light layer, batting for a soft one, closed-cell foam for a firm one.
How each fabric family suits it
- Stable woven: great choice. Add interfacing to the outer and handles so it carries weight.
- Heavy or stiff: great choice. Ideal: strong and keeps its shape.
- Stretchy knit: not recommended. A stretchy bag sags and its handles stretch out under load. Choose a woven fabric for this one.
- Slippery or fine: possible, with care. Works as a lining, or as a light shopper made from ripstop. Interface the handle ends.
The maker’s advice adjusts to the fabric family you pick in the Fabric tab.
Printing it
At the starting size the printed pieces take 10 A4 pages, taped together using the page labels, alignment marks and page map. For a print shop, choose a sheet from A0 to a 36″ roll: the pieces are packed onto as few sheets as they will fit on, and if one is too big for the sheet the maker says so. How printing, tiling and the test square work.
Frequently asked questions
What size can I make?
The fabric storage basket pattern takes width from 6–70 cm (2⅜–27½″); height from 8–90 cm (3⅛–35⅜″); base depth from 0–30 cm (0–11¾″). It starts at Width 28 cm (11″), Height 24 cm (9½″), Base depth 0 cm (0″), and you can work in centimetres, millimetres or inches. This page starts from Storage basket · round and Storage basket · square. Every starting point stays fully editable.
Which fabric suits the fabric storage basket pattern?
Canvas, duck, denim, heavy linen, upholstery-weight cotton, or quilting cotton with interfacing. In the maker’s fabric advice, stable woven and heavy or stiff are a great choice; slippery or fine is possible with care; stretchy knit is not recommended.