We’ve done lots of fabric baskets, because everyone loves to organize. But a standard basket needs a flat surface on which to sit, and countertop real estate can often be at a premium. What to do, what to do? You can open up additional space by lifting your storage solution up and off the counter with our cute hanging, half-round baskets. With a flat back and curved front, the basket lays flush against the wall, keeping it handy without encroaching into your space. The rope loop that ties onto the hanging dowel can be short or long to best fit your needs: hang it high and out of the way or keep it low and right at hand.

Our basket samples were originally done in a cute novelty fabric collection: Camp-A-Long Critters from Studio E Fabrics. It gives them a kid-friendly look, but… come on, wouldn’t you love to stash your own bath toiletries in a hedgehogs basket?! The fabric choices are fun to mix and match. The exterior is a standard quilting weight cotton; the lining, accent band, and dowel panel are a mid-weight canvas.

You’ll see below how we combined multiple interfacings to create the curved structure. Foam allows the main curve to hold its shape, a lightweight interfacing keeps the quilting weight cotton super smooth, and a mid-weight interfacing in combination with a layer of plastic canvas work together to stabilize the base.

With all this extra stabilization, the basket will stand up on its own. This means you could opt to leave off the hanging element entirely and use it as a countertop basket that can sit right up against the wall. 

There’s a free downloadable pattern for the curved base. Using this in combination with our classic inset base technique is what creates the unique half-round shape.

A hanging panel with a rod pocket allows easy insertion of the dowel. We used a ¾” dowel cut to 8” so it is the same width as the basket. You can then simply tie your hanging rope to each end at whatever length works best. Remember, the longer the hanging loop, the more the basket will naturally want to tip forward when filled.

One of more of these baskets would make a wonderful new baby gift filled with some infant soaps, lotions, and cloths.

Or load one up with office items, clearing off your workspace and organizing your tools more efficiently.

If you love these hanging baskets, you might also like one or more of our other fabric basket options, such as the Tall Fabric Box Baskets, Soft Storage Baskets in Burlap and Cotton or Drawstring Bonnet Basket. Check out our complete Storage + Organization category for even more ideas.

Our baskets finish at approximately 6″ high x 8″ wide x 4” deep at the apex of the front curve.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing Machine and standard presser foot
• Walking or Even Feed foot, or engage your machine’s fabric feeding system; optional but recommended for working with the additional thickness created by the foam – we engaged the AcuFeed™ Flex fabric feeding system on our Janome machine

Fabric and Other Supplies

NOTE: The yardage and supplies listed below are for ONE hanging basket.

• ⅓ yard of 44″+ wide quilting weight cotton for the exterior; we originally used Frogs in Aqua and Hedgehogs in White, both from the Camp-A-Long Critters collection by Studio E Fabrics
• ½ yard of 44”+ wide mid-weight canvas or similar for the upper band, lining, and hanging panel; we used a 7oz duck canvas in natural
  NOTE: Canvas traditionally comes in wider widths – ours was 54”; if this is the case for your choice, you can get away with just ⅓ yard.
• ⅔ yard of 20”+ wide lightweight fusible interfacing; we used Pellon ShapeFlex, this woven product provides the smoothest finish against the foam and is our recommendation
• ¼ yard of 20″+ wide fusible foam; we used Pellon Flex Foam, one-sided fusible foam
• ¼ yard or scrap of 20”+ wide mid-weight fusible interfacing – you need a minimum 8” x 4” rectangle from which to cut the pattern; we used Pellon Décor Bond
• Small sheet of plastic canvas; as above, you need a minimum 8” x 4” rectangle from which to cut the pattern
• ONE ¾” wooden dowel; you need an approximate 8” length
• 1 yard of soft rope or similar for hanging; the exact type of hanging cord is really up to you and how/where you’ll be hanging the basket. Our samples each used approximately 1 yard of a thin twisted cord
• All purpose thread to match fabric
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Scissors 
• Rotary cutter and mat
• Iron and ironing board
• Straight pins
• Seam sealant; optional for the ends of the hanging rope – we used Dritz Fray Check

Getting Started and Pattern Download

1. Download and print out our ONE pattern sheet for the half round base.
   NOTE: You will use the full pattern to cut the fabric then will need to trim the pattern along the seam allowance line, using this trimmed version to cut the plastic canvas and the mid-weight interfacing (the lightweight Shape Flex is cut at full size). If you want to keep your patterns for later use, print TWO copies of the pattern sheet.
   IMPORTANT: This pattern is ONE 8½” x 11″ sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. There is a guide rule on the page so you can confirm your final printout is to scale.
2. Cut out the pattern piece along the solid line. 
3. From the fabric for the main exterior (Frogs and Hedgehogs in our samples), cut the following:
   ONE 21½“ wide x 6½“ high rectangle for the exterior
   Using the full pattern, cut ONE for the base
   
4. From the fabric for the upper band, lining, and hanging panel (Natural canvas in our samples), cut the following:
   ONE 21½“ wide x 6½“ high rectangle for the exterior
   Using the full pattern, cut ONE for the base
   ONE 21“ wide x 2½“ strip for the upper band
   ONE 5” x 7” rectangle for the hanging panel
5. From the lightweight interfacing (Shape Flex in our samples), cut the following:
   ONE 21½“ wide x 6½“ high rectangle for the exterior
   Using the full pattern, cut ONE for the base
   ONE 20“ wide x 2“ strip for the upper band
6. From the fusible foam, cut the following:
   ONE 20” wide x 5½“ high rectangle, then sub cut 3⅞” from each end, giving you three separate panels.
   Trim all four sides of each panel at a slight angle as shown below.
   
   This will allow the foam to better fold together along the corners.
   
7. Trim the base panel pattern along the dotted stitch line.
8. Using the trimmed base pattern, cut ONE from the mid-weight interfacing and ONE from the plastic canvas.
   
9. Leave the rope as a continuous length as well as the dowel; it will be best to cut both to size at the very end.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Fusing the interfacing and the foam

1. Find the main exterior panel and the exterior base panel along with the matching pieces of lightweight interfacing. Place the interfacing on the wrong side of both fabric pieces, aligning it with the raw edges all around. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse in place.
   
2. Find the upper band and its lightweight interfacing band. Place the interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric so it is flush along one long edge with ½” of fabric extending beyond the interfacing at both ends and along the opposite long edge. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse in place.
   
3. Flip the fused exterior base panel wrong side up. Find the trimmed mid-weight interfacing panel. Place this panel on the the fused wrong side of the exterior base, centering it so there is ½” extending beyond this second layer of interfacing all around. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse in place.
   
4. Place the fused main exterior panel wrong side up and flat on your ironing surface. Carefully position the three foam panels as shown in the diagram below. Maintaining the proper spacing top, bottom, and between the panels is important in order to allow everything to seam together and sit smooth and flush when finished.
   
5. Lightly pin the foam panels in place.  Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse in place. We prefer to fuse from the right side of the fabric.
   

Assemble the exterior with its base

1. With the foam fully fused in place, align the 6½” sides of the main exterior panel. Pin together.
   
2. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch this short seam.
   
3. After seamed, mark the fold opposite the seam with a pin. This marks the center point of what will become the curved front of the basket.
4. Find the exterior base. Place it right side up and flat on your work surface. Mark the center points along both the straight and curved edge, then mark ½” in from each corner.
   
5. Roll the exterior tube so the seam is at the center back.
6. Set the tube top side down, bottom side up on your work surface and set the base into position. Match up the center pin point along the straight edge of the base with the seam of the tube, then pin outward in either direction, stopping at the corner pin points that are sitting ½” in. Make sure your distance from the seam to the corner pin is the same to both the left and the right. These corner pin points will become the back corners of the hanging basket.
   
7. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch from corner pin point to corner pin point, which means you are starting and stopping ½” in from the raw edge.
   
8. Remove from the machine and clip into, but not through, the seam at either end.
   
9. Match up the center pin point of the curved front of the base with the center marking pin on the tube. Then fill in around the rest of the curve in either direction, easing the fabric as needed.
   
10. You will have a little bit of extra fabric in each corner, like a little “ear.” This is okay.
    
11. Stitch around the front curve of the exterior, using a ½” seam allowance, which means you are following along the edge of the trimmed mid-weight interfacing.
    
12. Clip the curves.
    
13. Press open the seam allowance then turn the exterior basket right side out.
14. Find the plastic canvas piece and push it down into position inside the exterior basket.
    

Create the lining

1. Re-thread the machine with thread to best match the lining in the top and bobbin.
2. The lining is created in the same fashion as the exterior, but since it is the heavier canvas substrate, there is no interfacing or foam applied to this layer. The main difference is that all the seam allowances are ¾” rather than ½”. The smaller finished size takes into account the foam applied to the exterior layer.
3. Simply seam the main panel into a tube; remember, it’s a ¾” seam allowance. Don’t forget to also mark the opposite fold from the seam as the center point of the lining’s curved front.
   
4. Mark the base in the same manner as above for center points along the straight edge and the curved front. The corner marking pins should be ¾” in from each raw edge.
   
5. Set the base into the open bottom end of the lining tube, stitching across the back straight edge first (starting and stopping at the ¾” marked corner points). Remember to clip into the seam at each corner.
   
6. Match up the center front pin points and ease together the layers across the front.
   
7. Stitch around the curve using a ¾” seam allowance.
8. Trim the seam allowance back to ¼” and press open.
   
9. With the lining still wrong side out, slip it inside the exterior (which should be right side out). Line up the back seams of both and make sure the lining base is pushed down all the way against the plastic canvas.
   NOTE: The plastic canvas should stay put between the layers without problem; it did for both our samples. If you feel any shifting, you could adhere it to the exterior base with a bit of fusible seam tape.
   

Create and secure the hanging panel

1. Find the 5” x 7¾” canvas panel. Create a ¼” double turn hem along one 5” end and both 7¾” sides. To do this, fold back the raw edges ¼” and press, then fold an additional ¼” and fold again.
2. Edgestitch in place close to the inner fold.
   
3. Fold down the top hemmed edge just over 1” in order to create the casing for the dowel.
   NOTE: This fold allows good spacing for the ¾” dowel we used for our sample. You should wrap the hemmed panel around your own dowel to confirm your specific fold.
   
4. Stitch the hem in place, running this new seam directly over the top of the existing narrow hem seam line.
   
5. Find the basket. Center the hanging panel over the the back seam. The raw edge of the hanging panel should be flush with the top raw edge of the basket. The wrong side of the hanging panel should be against the right side of the exterior. Pin in place.
   
6. Machine baste in place across the panel .
   

Create and secure the top accent band

1. Find the 21″ x 2½” strip for the upper band, which should already have the interfacing fused into place.
2. Fold back the non-fused 21” edge ½”, which means you are folding right along the edge of the interfacing. Press the fold well to set a crease line.
   
3. Unfold this edge so the crease line is visible and place the 2½” ends right sides together. Pin in place.
   
4. Stitch together, using a ½” seam allowance.
   
5. Press the seam allowance open and flat.
6. Lining up the seam of the accent band with the back seam of the basket, place the ring right sides together with the lining… so inside the basket. The top raw edge of the band is flush with the top raw edges of the basket and the folded edge of the band is hanging down into the center of the basket. Pin all around the top. Make sure the hanging panel is still hanging straight down against the right side of the exterior.
   
7. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch all the way around the top through all the layers
   
8. Grade the seam allowance all around.
   
9. Bring the accent band up and around to the outside of the exterior to form the top cuff. Pin place, making sure the band has an even reveal all the way around.
   
10. Bring the hanging panel up into its final position. It will lay across the band at the back. Pin it into its upright position.
11. Slightly lengthen the stitch. The machine should still be threaded with thread to best match the band in the top and bobbin.
12. Edgestitch all the way around, staying close to the upper fold.
    
13. Then edgestitch all the way around again, this time staying close to the bottom fold.
    

Project Design: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Debbie Guild