Making Fabric Covered Bin

Living in Lagos gives you a lot of opportunity to be creative.  I love the colors of the local fabrics and the thickness is just great for making crafts. After a visit to a crafts bazaar the other day, I decided to make my own fabrick covered bin. Or perhaps I should call it yarn bin? Hehe… any way you like. You could add some pockets on the outside if you make yours into a crochet organizer. Mine is not very neat. I am sure you can make it better than this if you won't rush and spend more time making it. I finished mine in less then 90 minutes.

You need: 
- ¾ yard of cotton fabric.
- Cardboard paper. I used a large packaging box left over from when we were moving houses last time.
- Sharp knife.
- Ruler.
- Sewing pins.
- Marker.
- Pen.
- Sewing machine (recommended but not compulsory. If you have no sewing machine, hand stitching will work too).

Body: 
- Fold the fabric in half.
- Cut the cardboard the same length and width of the folded fabric minus 1 inch for seam allowance.
- Divide the length of the cardboard into 4 sections and mark each section using a marker.
- Using a sharp knife and a ruler, gently perforate one side of the cardboard. DO NOT CUT THROUGH IT. Mine is 8 inches per section.

Base: 
- Cut another piece of cardboard the same size of the section (8 x 8).
- Cut 9 x 17 inches of fabric to cover the base.
- Wrong side facing, fold and sew two sides of the base, leave the front open.
- Flip the inside out.
- Push the corner stitches with the tip of a pen to neaten the corners.
- Insert the cardboard and set aside.
- Wrong side facing, fold and sew the side of fabric for the body.
- Pick up the base, insert and place it in between the two layers of fabric making sure the side of the base is in line with the side of the body.
- Continue sewing toward the edge of the base leaving the other side open.
- Pull the fabric and the base inside out through the opening; push the corners stitches from the inside with the tip of a pen to neaten.
- Insert the cardboard for the body.
- Fold the seam inside, sew to close.
- Connect the two sides of the body together making sure both sides are neatly lined up.
- Pin the edges together, hand sew to finish.
- Shape the bin and push the base inside. You could permanently hand stitch the base if you like or leave it as is.

Good luck!
© Iin Wibisono 2014