How to make these Felt Baskets?

[mamarabolli]

I really would like to buy these, but they are pricey. I also want 6-12 of them. Do you think these can easily be made? I'm not too crafty, but would get excited if someone can give me instructions or a resource to look into.

http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=12734

[eepster]

Very easy.

Get nice thick felt. Cut it into the shape of a fat cross (kind of like the red cross.) Fold up the sides and run a line of stitches up the side.

Give it a try with paper first so you can adjust the size before you cut up your felt.

[thehappydeer]

Wow those are really neat, but pricey for sure! I noticed they are made from wool felt. If its 100% wool your looking for its harder to find. You can find wool/rayon blends and then the polyester felt sheets at crafts stores. I did find 100% wool by the yard at JoAnn for 14.95/yd in a natural color. All these felts are not as sturdy as the felt in the photo looks, I've never seen any for sale that thick. So I was thinking another choice would be to cut out 5 thin cardboard squares, and sew 2 pieces of felt over each one (cardboard in the middle), then sew them all together into the box shape. You'd need to be sure to make the fabric edge around each square wide enough so that you can easily sew them together. I think this might work, though maybe the red-cross shaped mentioned above would be better than the 5 individual pieces.

I like this felt box idea so much I might have to try it myself soon! If I do, I'll let you know how it goes!

I think you can do it! Go For it!

Maybe try the first one with the cheapy-felt so you don't have to worry about messing it up!

Good Luck!

[eepster]

An easy source for thick pure wool felt is old sweaters (thrift store if you don't have moth eaten ones lying around.) Just wash them in hot water and rinse with cold. Use pleanty of detergent. Use the longest roughest setting on your washing machine then toss in the drier.

Walla, thick pure wool felt.

Some sweaters felt more than others. I've had great results with pure merino and alpaca blends.

[eepster]

It can also be ordered http://www.ericas.com/fabric/woolfeltyardage.htm (I have never ordered from this shop so I can not tell you about quality or service.)

[rachiem]

Yup! You can do it! (I'm actually meaning to do a tutorial on my blog eventually on this.)

Cut out the felt (look for wool felt because it will be sturdier). Then go to this website and read the tutorial on sewing felt.

It really isn't that hard-- I made a felt Halloween basket for my boy on my first try and, trust me, I tend to mess up a lot.

[lupineperriwinkle]

You can use Peltex as a stiffener between 2 layers of felt. I use it to make the toys I sell. If you have a JoAnns, the super stiff stuff is about $5 a yrad, and you can use a 40% off coupon. The stuff I get is really stiff and works great.