Barrel Lantern Fabric Basket

My version of Candy Tomato's "magic basket"...

I knew there had to be a name for this shape and once again, the internet came to my rescue.

Today's project is from the YouTube channel of Candy Tomato; she called it a "magic basket". (Video was uploaded on July 30 if you want to look for it.) Its magical claim to due to the fact that when you press down on it, it puffs out into a pleated pumpkin shape.

When I saw it, the words lantern and barrel immediately came to my mind. A subsequent Google search revealed that there is such a thing as a barrel lantern.

Anyway, after checking out the video and leaving her a comment, I knew I had to make one of my own. 

My basket came out smaller than intended...

As sometimes happens in video tutorials with no accompanying verbal explanations, however, I ended up making a wrong assumption.

The end result is that while I still managed to complete the basket and it more or less looks like it should, it is decidedly narrower in girth than designed.

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Where did I make my mistake? I didn't realize that the measurements for the various panels were exclusive of seam allowance.

Original basket had two handles; with my smaller version, I decided one was enough...

So while I had a template measuring 5cm and 4cm by 15cm, I cut my fabric to those dimensions and then used a 1/4" (6mm) seam allowance when sewing them together. What that means is that I lost over a centimeter with every two panels (there are sixteen panels in total for the exterior). That then resulted in my lining pieces being too large, since they were eight pieces cut to 9cm x 15cm each.

Rivets allow the strap to rotate...

None of that was insurmountable, however, and if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't know that any of this happened. ;-)

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Due to my mistake, however, almost everything needed to be resized, especially the base. Luckily I found something in the kitchen that was just the right size to use to trace a circle... a ramekin.

My base turned out to be about 3.5" in diameter...

I backed two fabric circles with fusible fleece and then quilted them together before binding and sewing it onto the bottom of the basket.

Recognize the loopy quilting? I showed it to you last week in my update on FMQ.

View of the bottom...

The fabrics were Lily and Loom selections that I had left over after making my project bag.

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The original project was exclusively hand sewn by the creator, to whom I give the utmost props since I cannot imagine doing that myself. On the other hand, it should give all of us hope and encouragement that we should be able to sew most things if we put our minds to it, since it is really such a basic skill that requires nothing more than needle and thread... well, and maybe some interfacing and a hot iron.

View of the (dark) interior...

Speaking of interfacing, the exterior and lining are supposed to be fused together using a sheet of fusible web, but I didn't have any and didn't want to buy it. I did, however, have some stitch witchery tape (product by Dritz that does the same thing), so I applied strips of it at appropriate spots to achieve the desired effect. Fabric glue could have worked also. (Just don't leave the two sides loose; they need to be adhered together for the pleats to function properly.)

Overall, I enjoyed making this, mistakes aside...

With the overall size reduced, I changed up the original (two) handles, turning it into a single handle. And to facilitate it being able to be dropped down out of the way, I attached a couple of rivets loosely to the ends instead of sewing them down with buttons as trim.

In the end, this little basket turned out differently than intended, but it was the perfect small project to allow me to practice some more FMQ. Don't know what will become of it, but at least it doesn't take up too much space!

'Til next...