DIY: Fancy up an old woven basket!

 

I use baskets all the time, for both storage and decoration. Sometimes I end up with baskets that I can't even remember where they came from! This is one of those baskets. I wanted to jazz it up a bit and this idea came to mind. Hope you like! 

 

 

All you'll need for this project: 

• Woven basket (not too tightly woven)
• Strips of fabric or ribbon

What to do:

Step 1: Using your fingers, separate the weaves in the basket and get a good look at the pattern. This will help you to determine your own pattern for your fabric and how you want to weave it around the basket. To keep an even pattern all the way around I counted the weaves (technical term) both across and up and down. I'll explain this a little further in a minute.

Step 2: Starting INSIDE the basket, pull your fabric through one of the openings in the weave at whatever point you want to start.

Step 3: Begin weaving in and out (inside to outside) of your basket in your desired pattern. To keep it really simple, you could just go horizontally all the way around the basket in several rows. This would be a great way to practice and get a feel for what you're doing. However, the design possibilities are endless!

Example: My first weave went down 4 weaves and over 3, diagonally. I did this all the way around the basket. Using a new strip of fabric I did the opposite, coming up 4 weaves and over 3, ending each weave in the same place the first set ended. This is how I created the chevron pattern. For my last row I only did the first step without completing the chevron. No reason really, just the way I wanted to do it :)

Step 4: Make sure your woven fabric strips all end INSIDE the basket. You don't want any funky pieces sticking out around the outside. Just tie off each end into a knot and that's it! Don't worry if your strips aren't long enough to reach all the way around the basket, just tie a knot where it left off and start a new strip.

Ta-da!

 

I was thinking, this would be a great way to customize storage for the holidays (red & green for Christmas, maybe), or for gifts (blue fabric for a boy baby shower??).

xoxo

Rachel