Nature Basket Sew-Along - Sourcing your materials

Описание: Welcome to the Nature Basket Sewalong! Originally hosted in the Twig + Tale Chat group on Facebook, join us for a closer look at how these nature-inspired play baskets come together, where you can follow along any time.

In this episode, we share some tips and tricks to help you pick the correct materials for your Cloud, Ocean, or Forest Nature Basket.

Video Transcript:
Hello sewists! We are really excited for the upcoming sewalong - have you planned to join us? We so hope you will!

As we look ahead to the sewalong week, I'd like to chat with you a moment about the needed materials - fabric, interfacing, and batting.

Many you may already have collected, while others can be a bit harder to source - we want to make sure you have the opportunity to source everything you need with ample time to plan.

For your main and lining fabric, there are many delightful options to choose from. We suggest woven fabrics, about the weight of quilting cotton or thinner. Heavier fabrics such as denim, thick twills, woolen blankets and others will become too thick to sew at some points in the construction of your Nature Basket. Woven cottons, thinner cotton decor fabric, thin wools, chambrays, linens, and others will all work wonderfully. Upcycle options might include thinner tablecloths and curtains, bedsheets, or large adult shirts and skirts may provide enough fabric for the smaller baskets. Knit fabrics are not recommended, as they tend to shift and pucker while quilting.

Interfacing will be the material that will really make your project shine, but can be one of the more difficult materials to source. I am using Pellon DecorBond, as I am in the United States - some other suggested brands and products are included in the pattern for others worldwide, including Formfuse 1600f in New Zealand. Basically speaking, you are looking for a heavy weight interfacing, which is still flexible enough to turn the basket through. If you have made successful wings before, the suggested interfacing is the same. Buckram and super heavy weight bag interfacing will be too stiff, as they will make the basket impossible to turn out. You’ll find a link in the post, which will give you a rundown of these suggested interfacings. Or, if you have made the wings or baskets and found another interfacing that works well, feel free to share it in the comments! You will also need some kind of sew-in interfacing - you can choose to buy a separate sew-in interfacing, or use extra of your fusible interfacing, without fusing it. I will be utilizing extra of this fusible interfacing.

Batting is another important material to consider in your project. Many different kinds will do, so it tends to be easier to find than the interfacing. You'll want to select a batting that is 5-20mm thick, to provide enough loft to give definition and depth to your quilting lines, and help provide additional sturdiness to your basket. Many different types will work, from synthetic to cotton to wool. Upcycle options include using a cast off quilt or doona, or 1-2 layers of fleece blanket. I will be using this thrifted polyester blanket. If you are not sure what thickness you would like to use, I suggest buying extra batting in one of the thinner sizes - you can always test by using scraps of all of your materials, and see if you like the result. If you want more loft, you can always double up on your batting. A pro tip - basting spray can be helpful in keeping your materials from shifting when quilting.

Last to consider are the various small bits - make certain you have plenty of thread in your desired color, as the quilting can take up a fair bit of it. It is very helpful to spool a couple of bobbins of it ahead of time, to be prepared. Snaps will be necessary if you are including the hood, unless you intend to hack another type of closure. You will also find something pointy, such as a chopstick, handy in turning out corners, and a marker needed for making your quilting template. If you want to include any sort of embellishment, such as appliques, embroidery, fabric paint or others, you will want to make sure you gather those as well.

With that, you are ready to go - if you have any questions about your desired materials, do leave them in the comments here, so we can help you address them ahead of time. Otherwise, we are nearly there - see you at the sewalong!

#sewing #TTNatureBasket #TwigAndTale #PDFPattern