CD Recycle Gift Basket-Sew

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Another CD kept out of the landfill and a lovely basket to give a gift.

If you have a small stack of old CD's to get rid of, then this blog and two other blogs I have written will help you out.

http://linda-allfreepatterns.blogspot.com/2010/07/cd-recycle-make-cake-decoration.html
http://linda-allfreepatterns.blogspot.com/2010/07/recycle-cds-giftstorage-bag-sew.html

My stack of old CD's are going down, but I still have a few more to use up.  This morning as I cleaned up my work area after making the 'cakes' out of CD's, another idea came to mind.  My mess couldn't wait, so I finished cleaning first, then began working on this new idea.  Baskets!  I didn't want them to be just for Easter, so I designed the pattern to be for any time.  Just fill a basket with some things the person would love and you have another way of gift giving.  Beats paper sacks any time because the recipient will always keep this basket and think of you.

Materials.  Cardstock, tacky glue, cotton fabric, ribbon and trims.
If you don't know what some of these products are, visit my blog
http://linda-allfreepatterns.blogspot.com/2010/07/graphs-glues-stuff-i-use.html
How to make the pattern.

You need to cut 3 pieces of cardstock, fifteen and 1/4" wide and 2" tall.  Keep one as your future pattern and then glue the other two together and when dry, mark as above.  Three and 3/4" in from the left, draw a line.  Then draw two more lines 1/4" each side of it.  Leave a seven and 1/2" space and draw a second line, with 1/4" line each side of it.  I highlighted the main lines in red so that you can understand what I mean.

For the handle straps I found a great use for my old shredder.  Remember the type that no-one wants any more?  It shreds 1/4" strips, so when my daughter bought the newer type which cross shreds, she donated this one to me to use in my crafts.  I have made paper basket weaving with it before.  Anyway, if you have one, or can find one somewhere shred the cardstock this way.  If not you can use a paper cutter or scissors.

You will need three pieces, 1/4" wide by 15" long.  Glue them together to make one thicker stronger strip for the handle.

You will need to make three fabric pattern pieces, either with tracing fabric or paper.  A handle strip that is one and 1/2" by 12" long.  Then a piece for the basket wall cover 3" high and fifteen and 1/2" wide.  Then draw around a CD and leave a 1/2" seam allowance.

You can use any fabric you like but I am using 100% cotton.  It is lavender with silver stars all over which you cannot see in this photo. Cut two pieces of wall, two pieces for the CD and one for the handle.

Pin as above.  Pin the handle in half right sides together.  With WRONG sides together pin one long edge of wall.  Put a CD inside and WRONG sides together and pin around the CD.

Sew handle 1/4" seam in, down the long part edge and then turn the tube right side out and press with seam in the center.  I use a safety pin to turn.  Sew one long side ONLY of the wall and then fold in half this time with RIGHT sides together and sew 1/4" seam to join into a circle and then Zigzag over the raw edge.  Use a ZIPPER foot and sew around the CD.

Pin the wall to the bottom like this.  You can see the pins are on the seam side.  Sew with zipper foot and then trim excess fabric around the edge of the CD.  Turn right side out.

Take your triple thick handle and slide into the handle tube fabric.  You can see there is one and 1/2" of cardstock showing at each end.

Take your double up cardstock wall and slide inside the two pieces of cotton wall, MAKING SURE you can see the marks you made.  The cardstock wall should fit perfectly.

Now attach one side of the handle.  The reason you leave part of the cardstock without fabric tube over it is because cardstock to cardstock will adhere better when the basket has any weight in it.  There is enough of the fabric tubing down inside the basket wall so that you will not see the cardstock part. 

Between the drawn lines and over the main line, glue the handle all the way down to the bottom of the basket with a good tacky glue and hold it tight with a clothes pin while it dries.

Do the same with the other end of the handle and let them dry well.

Make snips down to the cardstock wall each side of both handles, through both sides of the wall fabrics.  Then on the INSIDE only turn the 1/2" piece of fabric in and glue to hold.

You will be turning the fabric over onto the outside of the basket next, so put some glue on first.

Keep working both layers over and glue both down and the 2 small pieces on the outside of the handles.  You will not see any of this when you add the trim.

Starting at the join area, glue a trim or ribbon all around covering the raw edge of the turn down as shown.  Overlap the trim at the join and glue.  The joining area will point forward a bit, but this is okay as a bow will make it look right.

Making a bow

This ribbon is one and 1/2" wide.  Cut a piece 9" long and fold into center overlapping a bit at the back and place a pin to hold.

Have a needle and thread ready with a knot on the end.  Pinch a pleat in the center to give the bow a waistline and sew in place to hold.

Cut a two and 1/2" length of ribbon and fold each side in and glue to hold down to form a ribbon 1/3 of it's original width.

Wrap the ribbon around the center as shown in the photo and on the back side, sew to hold it in place.  Do not have any stitches showing on the front.

Glue the bow over the join as shown.  Basket done!

Fill it up!

This basket is the perfect size to hold enough items for the perfect gift.  I added some Aromatherapy items in Lavender and Chamomile.  The cotton fabric will absorb some of the lovely smell and make the basket even more appealing.  I put a pack of two tea lights in tins, a bar of soap, 20 incense sticks and a 4.5 fl oz of lotion in the basket and it fit very well.  You can add some shredded straw underneath if you wish.

I have no doubt that if you give this gift to a friend, the next time you go into her bathroom or bedroom, you'll find it proudly on display.  If you know her color scheme, make one in that color and she'll be delighted.

More designer baskets.

I love this wacky polka dot cotton fabric in pink and black so I added black trim and bow for a fun but elegant look.

Here's how to make this bow.

Cut two, two and 1/2" pieces of ribbon and cross like this.  Put a dab of glue to hold in place.

Trim up like this.

Glue it over the join area of the band.

This ribbon wasn't quite as wide as the white bow ribbon, but I made it the same way, except I didn't need to add the pinch pleat before wrapping the center with the small piece of ribbon.  I use clothes pins to hold the bow until the glue has dried.

You don't have to make the handles all the same height.  This one I made 12'' long instead of 15".  I started gluing the ribbon trim under the handle and ended there.  I made 2 bows and put them on each side of the handle.

This cotton fabric had both purple and pink in flowers so I used both color ribbons to match in two sizes.  You can be as creative as you like.

This time I used a plain red fabric for the base and handle and the ladybird fabric for the walls.  It was fitting that I used both black and red ribbon to match and a big red bow.

This small remnant of ladybird fabric has gone a long way.  I paid 63c for the piece from a remnant bin in a fabric store and covered a garden journal with it already and I still have half of the original piece left.  Creativity doesn't have to cost a fortune.  I put small garden tools in the basket for a gift.  To learn how to cover a book or journal visit this blog I wrote. 

http://linda-allfreepatterns.blogspot.com/2010/07/back-to-school-removable-fabric-book.html

I loved this dark green fabric covered in small leaves with outlines of gold all over.  I realize you can't see the gold.  I had purchased a wide green ribbon out of a clearance bin and it was a perfect match.  It was edged in gold and the ribbon made the basket more elegant.

The ribbon was a bit wider than I would have wished, so I got creative.  I folded the sides to the center and took a thick gold thread and made over stitches at an angle all around before attaching it to the basket.  I did the same for the center strip in the bow.  See the above photo.

You can also make these baskets at Easter and fill with candy.  Have fun and get creative.