Welcome to another stitch tutorial! The basket weave stitch is a really fun one. There are so many different ways to approach stitching a basket, but this method is rapidly becoming my favourite. You can easily change the look and texture of the basket by playing around with the number of strands you use.
If you’re here following the Tea Party Mini-Quilt project, ready to stitch June’s Strawberry Basket, I used only 2 strands in the original design. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m using all 6 strands. Up to you to decide which you like best!
If you’re new around here and you’d like to join in on the Tea Party, I send out a free mini-embroidery pattern each month, to turn into a hexie for a decorative mini-quilt. This month’s pattern is this adorable cottagecore strawberry basket.
If you’d like to stitch it too and catch-up on previous patterns, you can join my mailing list by subscribing here! I send out a newsletter every two weeks (usually, haha!).
Now, onto the tutorial!
Basket Weave Stitch Tutorial
1. First, assuming you are indeed wanting to embroider a basket, transfer or draw your pattern on the fabric. Mark the vertical lines of the basket’s weave.
2. Make straight stitches over those vertical lines.
3. Then, come up on one side of the basket, just beside the first straight stitch.
4. Weave your needle under and over the stitches, all the way to the end.
5. Pull through, adjusting the thread if need be, by pushing it gently with your needle so it rests in a curved line at the top of the basket. Go down into the fabric.
6. Coming up from the back just beside where you last ended, start weaving the needle again, in the other direction. You’ll want to do the opposite you did previously, so if you ended your stitch “under” the last vertical stitch, start by going over this time. Go all the way to the other end, end the stitch by going down into the fabric, and come up again just under where you left off.
7. Continue to weave your needle over and under until the basket is filled!
8. I like to finish with a nice line of stem stitch to hide the weaving ends, and stitch the handle.
And there you are, the sweetest little basket!
As you might notice, the weaving looks different in this tutorial compared to my original strawberry basket. That’s because I used fewer strands and made my base stitches much closer for the latter. The basket in the tutorial used more strands, and the vertical stitches were further apart, creating a longer weave.
You can play around with this until you find the look you are best satisfied with! I hope you enjoyed this basket weave stitch tutorial, and I wish you lots of happy stitches and strawberry pickings. There’s nothing quite like a basket of freshly picked wild strawberries on a sunny June afternoon, is there?
Fondly,
You made it look easy! I can’t wait to get my thread out & my flower/ pot pattern.
I started embroidering at 9 yrs & stopped a year later. I just bought a kit & I’m taking lessons at 55 yrs.
Oh, that’s lovely, I’m so glad you’re giving it a go again. This is such a fun stitch and really ends up looking like a woven basket!
Hello, would this work on a large basket?
I’m embroidering a napkin like the ones my grandmother used to make but the patterns are very large, the basket on this pattern is about palm size. Will this still work? Thanks!
Hi Karina,
yes I think this could work on a large basket too. I would definitely use all 6 strands if you’re using stranded cotton, and if you find the stitches are getting too loose in the middle, you could probably go through the fabric here and there, instead of just at the ends. Hope it works out 😀