<><> Quarter Square Triangles <><>: Basket Sacks Tutorial

At our last SQ meeting in September, Nellie showed us the 'Basket Sacks' that will line the hand made baskets being made by her basketmaking group. The baskets will hold personal items for women/families in shelters.

This tutorial describes how to make the 'sacks'. Although the sewing instructions for the sacks are a bit different from the instructions we received at the September meeting, the final result is exactly the same as the prototype.... a 12" x 16" sack!

If everyone makes a few sacks, it will help to make this charibable project a success. If you took Nellie's (pre-cut) fabric home to make this sack, the sizes of those pieces are cut a little differently..... but you can sew those pieces together and make the sack per these directions. Read on and you'll see what I mean.....

Basket Sack Tutorial

Fabric Selection & Cutting

1. Cut 2 rectangles of fabric, each 13” x 33”. Both pieces can be of same print/color or they can be coordinating prints/colors. One piece is the outside of sack & the other is the sack lining. In the following photos, outside of the sack is purple and the lining is yellow.

Sewing
2. Place rectangles with RST (right sides together). Using ½” seam, sew rectangles together at both short ends …(13” sides). Fabric piece is now in the shape of a tube. Press seams.

3. Realign ‘tube’: Keeping RST, realign fabric tube so that se

ams lay on top of each other. Match these seams carefully and pin, while also aligning each raw-edge side….
→

(you are pinning the long/33" sides together)

4. Sew sides of 'tube' with ½” seam with the following con

siderations:

4a. On one edge, sew seam along entire 33" edge.

4b. On the other edge, leave an opening

of about 4” in the seam to allow for

turning of the tube in next step. (This

opening is in the lining fabric and will not

show in the final product.)

5. Turn the whole piece right-side-out. Press, but don’t make deep creases on the seams of the

lining fabric. It is okay to crease the edges of the ‘outside’ (purple) sack fabric.

6a. Close the opening in the seam. Pin edges together….. →

6b. … and topstitch close to the edge.

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This topstitching will not show when lining is tucked inside.

7. This is the fun part:

• Stuff the lining into the sack!

•Holding the lining in one hand, and

the sack in the other hand, push (invert)

the lining into the ‘hole/opening’ of the

top of the sack…and using the

(previously sewn)seam line as a guide,

fold the sack ‘top’ evenly all around.

•Press.

Casing

8a. Two lines of stitches are neded to make the casing.

• Turn sack inside-out…

•Using thread to match outside fabric, sew a stitching line all around top opening of sack approx ½” – ¾” from the top edge. Reinforce stitching line/backstitch as you sew over both side seams, for security.

8b. To enclose the casing, sew another line of stitches parallel to, and approximately
1 ½” away from, first line of stitching.