Sweets for your sweets look even more delicious in these beautiful baskets. Yes, I realize our photos do not feature homemade goodies, but I don’t want to hear any grief about that… no one says sewing and culinary creativity must go hand-in-hand. Extra wide and just the right depth for cookies and candy (and more!); they are not too thick, not too thin… deep dish, like a good Chicago pizza. Our design ties with a big, pretty bow so there’s no need for separate gift wrap.

Mix and match the interior and exterior fabrics to create a holiday theme or celebrate a special hobby. And there’s no rule that says you must fill these pretty baskets with edible goodies. Pick out floral fabrics and wrap up some gardening necessities. Find a cute puppy or kitten fabric to make a personalized present for someone who loves her/his fur babies. The possibilities are endless.

The large basket finishes at approximately: 10″ x 6″ and is 4″ deep, not counting the rick rack. The small is about 8″ x 5″ and is 3½” deep, also not counting the rick rack

Extend the handmade gift appeal with a special set of “gift certificate coupons” for help around the house, extra hugs and kisses, and more. Download our free printable DIY Gift Certificate Coupons. Print as many coupons as you like to include behind the included coupon cover art.

The Coupons are available here as a .PDF file. Click the image below to download. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, which is a free program. We’ve minimized the file size, but please be patient with the download process. In addition, make sure you have the latest version of Acrobat Reader DC, and the latest version of your printer driver. Adobe does always recommend a re-start of your computer with any update. If you are experiencing printing issues, you can also try the Print as Image option in your printer’s browser window. This option is often under the Advanced tab. You can also save the downloaded PDF to your computer and print from there.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing Machine and standard presser foot

Fabric and Other Supplies

Large Deep Dish

• ¼ yard of 44″+ wide quilting weight cotton for the basket exterior
• ¼ yard of 44″+ wide quilting weight cotton for the basket lining
• ½ yard of 20″+ heavyweight fusible interfacing
• ¼ yard of 45″+ wide lightweight batting
• 1 yard of wide coordinating sheer wired ribbon
• 1 yard of wide coordinating rick rack

Small Deep Dish

The cuts are actually the same for both baskets; you’ll just have a bit more leftover from your ¼ yard cuts with the smaller basket.

• ¼ yard of 44″+ wide quilting weight cotton for the basket exterior
• ¼ yard of 44″+ wide quilting weight cotton for the basket lining
• ½ yard of 20″+ heavyweight fusible interfacing
• ¼ yard of 45″+ wide lightweight batting
• 1 yard of wide coordinating sheer wired ribbon
• 1 yard of wide coordinating rick rack

Both

• All purpose thread in colors to best match both rick rack and fabric
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Straight pins

Getting Started

Large Deep Dish Basket

This basket finishes at approximately: 10″ x 6″ and is 4″ deep, not counting the rick rack.

1. From the fabric for the exterior, cut TWO 8″ high x 17″ wide panels.
2. From the fabric for the lining, cut TWO 8″ high x 17″ wide panels.
3. From the batting, cut TWO 8″ x 17″ panels.
4. From the heavyweight fusible interfacing, cut TWO 7″ x 16″ panels.
5. Cut the ribbon into TWO 18″ lengths.
6. Leave the rick rack as one length.

Small Deep Dish Basket

This basket finishes at approximately: 8″ x 5″ and is 3½” deep, not counting the rick rack.

1. From the fabric for the exterior, cut TWO 6½” high x 14″ wide panels.
2. From the fabric for the lining, cut TWO 6½” high x 14″ wide panels.
3. From the batting, cut TWO 6½” high x 14″ wide panels.
4. From the heavyweight fusible interfacing, cut TWO 5½” high x 13″ wide panels.
5. Cut the ribbon into TWO 18″ lengths.
6. Leave the rick rack as one length.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

The steps below show assembly of the large deep dish basket. The steps for the smaller basket are the same.

Layer the panels

1. Place a piece of heavyweight fusible interfacing against the wrong side of each exterior panel, centering the interfacing on the fabric so there is ½” of fabric showing beyond the interfacing on all sides.
   
2. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse the interfacing in place.
3. Place a piece of batting against the wrong side of each lining panel, aligning all the edges of both layers. Pin in place. Edgestitch in place around all four sides.
   
4. Press well, if need be, trim the batting so it is completely flush with the fabric.

Seam panels and box the bottom corners

1. Place the two lining panels right sides together. If you are using a directional print, make sure both panels are lined up top-to-top.
2. Pin in place along both sides and across the bottom.
   
3. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch both sides and across the bottom, pivoting at the corners.
4. With the lining still wrong side out, the next step is to box the bottom corners.
5. Using both hands, pinch and pull apart one bottom corner.
6. As you keep pulling, the fabric will begin to make a little peak with the corner point at the top and a seam line running down the middle of both sides. Precisely match the two seams front to back.
   
7. Pin first from the wrong side, then look down inside the basket to see if the seams are lining up. Below is a photo looking straight down into the basket, lining up the side and bottom seams.
   
8. Our large basket is sized for 6″ sides. To create this width, you need to figure your boxed corner seam at half the finished width. Therefore, in our sample, we measured 3″ from the tip of the corner peak and drew a horizontal line.
   NOTE: For the small basket, the sides are 5″, so your corners should be measured at 2½”.
   
9. Pin your folded and measured ‘peak’ and stitch along the drawn line. For stability, we recommend stitching straight across, locking at the beginning and end, removing the project, then replacing it under the needle, and stitching across again.
   
10. Trim away the peak on each side to about ¼” from the seam line.
    
11. Repeat these steps to form the opposite corner.
12. Push out the boxed corners but keep the lining wrong side out.
13. Repeat ALL these steps to create the exterior of the basket, but turn the exterior right side out.
    
14. Remember that the heavyweight fusible interfacing for the exterior is cut back ½”  to stay out of the seams and make them less stiff. Therefore, you will be stitching right along the edge of the interfacing, which makes it easy to keep your seam nice and straight.
    
    NOTE: If you are new to boxing corners, we have a full tutorial you can review prior to starting. It shows the method used above as well as a second “cut out” method.

Assemble interior and exterior and add the rick rack and ribbon

1. Fold down and press the top raw edge of both the exterior and the lining ½” all around, creating a nice finished edge. Pin in place if need be, but just pressing it down should be enough.
   
2. Pin the rick rack to the top folded edge of the lining. Start at a side seam and ‘dip’ the curve of the rick rack down to hide the raw edge.
   
3. The middle of the rick rack should be aligned with the top fold of the lining so half of the rick rack’s ‘wave’ sticks up from the top.
   
4. Machine baste the rick rack in place, staying close to the folded edge, which should be right through the middle of the rick rack.
5. Slip the lining inside the basket exterior so the two layers are wrong sides together. Push the lining down into place so the side seams match up, the top folded edges are flush with one another, and the rick rack is sticking up.
   
6. We took the time to make sure our rick rack was even all the way around, checking it with a see-through ruler. Pin in place all the way around.
   
7. Find the center of each long side and mark each of these two points with a pin.
8. Insert one raw end of each 18″ length of wired ribbon at each pin point, slipping the ribbon between the lining and exterior layers.
9. Insert the raw end so it is at least 1½” below the top folded edges. Pin in place through all the layers.
   
10. Topstitch all around the top through all the layers, staying as close to the edge as possible. It is easiest to feed the basket through the machine if you stitch with the lining facing up. This means you should re-thread the machine with thread to best match the lining in the top and to best match the exterior in the bobbin. In the photo below, you can see the original line of machine basting that held the rick rack to the lining. You’ll remove that later.
    
11. Okay… later has come. When you have finished topstitching all around, use a seam ripper to pick out the machine basting stitch. Now you have just one pretty line of stitching holding everything together.
12. Fill your deep dish basket with goodies of your choice and tie closed with a pretty bow. Simply cut the ends of the ribbon to your desired length, just like a bow on a wrapped package; there’s no need to finish the ends.