My first 1-hour basket

The 1-hour basket has begun to float all over the sewing accounts on Instagram, after Kelly of kelbysews published the pattern for free a few days ago, and I decided my iron with paraphernalia needed a new home. The name of the basket sounded promising enough that I’d manage to start – and finish, no less – a project within a reasonable timespan (whatever that means).

In theory, the project takes about an hour, but since I’m still trying to find permanent homes and arrangements in general for my crafting stuff, not only did it take some time to audition fabrics, but then the fusible fleece was missing for a short while. The amount of piles isn’t that huge, but rummaging through them took its moment. Then there’s the fact that my pressing board sits on the kitchen countertop, and the fact that I’m not always the best at washing dishes, so to clear the space took another moment. But once fabric selection had happened Saturday evening, in theory I could have finished the project in that hour. Only then I spent time chatting on the phone, too, so progress was slow enough that I did the top stitching, closing of the lining seam, and final pressing yesterday.

But enough babbling. The basket pleases me beyond words! I love the fabrics, both the Tape Measures in Aqua, a canvas from the Made With Love collection by Moda Fabrics, and Small Flowers in White from the Spring Street collection by Carolyn Gavin.

The pattern itself is also such a nicely written work. The photos are spot on, the layout clear, and the text to the point. The only things I would change are:

• the nesting of the seams, because in quilting I prefer opening them rather than pressing to the side, and there’s considerable bulk where two canvas layers meet two fleece layers all on top of each other.
• the size of the lining opening for turning the project inside out. I left it about three inches wide as instructed, but had to take out an inch or so worth of stitches, when the bulky exterior refused to become small enough.

Another thing I’ve observed is that people’s basket handles seem quite floppy compared to mine, even when they have added some kind of interfacing, but I want to stress that there are four layers of canvas and nothing else in mine.

I also took care to fuse each section of the fleece for about ten seconds under a moist cloth for long-term attachment to the exterior canvas. This gives a wonderful finish to the basket as a whole, I think, and it stands quite rigidly as well for such a soft construction.

Since this one fits my iron with neatly rolled-up cord, the water cup thingy, a starch bottle, and a pressing cloth, I most certainly will make more of this basket at some point. There’s more fabric where those came from, although I’m unfortunately running out on fusible fleece, I realise in this very moment to my great horror.

In the meantime, why don’t you go make one of these, too, and show me!