Home sewing: crafty cloth baskets or bags

A few months ago I came across some cloth 'buckets', as they were called, on a blog. I liked the look of them so much that I took what felt like a giant leap and bought the pattern on line, plus some fabric and puffy stuff to make them stand up from a fabric shop.

Sewing them was great! I am very inexperienced, but the sense of achievement was wonderful. I made quite a few, some as gifts and some to keep.

Anna's ballet bag.

A cute little handbag-sized one.

This bag sits under our hall table waiting for library books that need to be returned to the library. Then it comes home again with us, filled with new books to enjoy.

I played with the pattern only slightly. Instead of what the pattern calls burlap (which is what I would call sacking, from what I can see) I used my choice of fabric for the outside and a contrasting cotton or calico for the lining. The calico-lined bags hold their shape particularly well. Plus sometimes I made the handles longer to create a bag rather than a basket style, and changed their position.

Imagine the untold generations of women before us that had to sew their family's clothes (and those before them that had to actually weave the fabric!). I felt good knowing that if I had to do that, I just might be able to. They'd look pretty rough to start with, though.

What surprised me most was what the children thought of me sitting and sewing for hours, because I did it during school holidays. One day I got the sewing machine out and they said, "Are you going to sew?" I said that I was - do you wish I wouldn't? And they said "We love it when you sew!"

The pattern can be bought from here for $9US.