Patchwork Bubble Storage Basket

Last weekend I made a bubble basket / storage pod by following a tutorial by lalalove couture.

YouTube Tutorial Link: Tuto Coudre un panier à rangement (sac bull) /bubble basket ,storage pod

The template link is in the video’s description and is free to download.

Fabric

My basket’s outer fabric is made up of pieces of quilted cotton and flannel, and the inner lining is suede fabric.

I had a variety of practice quilting blocks that I wanted to repurpose. Ultimately I decided to go with a blue/yellow/red/green color scheme.

Sides

I made each side of the basket separately. Here’s one of them (and its corresponding lining and interfacing):

I only had thin/light interfacing on me and was concerned that would not provide enough structure for the basket.

My workaround was sandwiching 1 layer of 1/16″ loft 50/50 cotton-polyester blend batting between 2 layers of light interfacing and fixing them together with some “scribbling”:

All the layers sandwiched together and lightly secured with guiding knots to indicate fold points:

Base

Cutouts for the circular base of the basket (green suede fabric inside, black cotton outside, interfacing, batting not pictured):

When it came time to connect the basket’s sides and base, I discovered that suede fabric is quite difficult for my sewing machine to sew through even though my machine is considered “heavy duty”. I think this is because of how much friction there is between the fabric type and metal needle.

Hook Handle

The example in the tutorial uses a front-to-back hook strap that is attached on the outside along the back.

For my basket, I made 2 main modifications to the strap while keeping the original dimensions:

• I placed the strap ends side-by-side, which allows the basket to be more easily wall-hangable.
• I have the strap ends sewn into the lip of the basket.

No scrap goes to waste! I pieced together a bunch of extras to make enough fabric for a rectangular piece that would be used for the basket’s hook strap:

Other Modifications

I chose not to sew around the lip of the basket, partly due to how thick it is with the way I made it, but mostly out of personal preference.

In future iterations I will likely cut the lining slot for turning the bag inside out off to the side instead of where it is currently visible when the basket is viewed straight-on.

Done!

I wish I took more pictures of the process! I’ll likely make a few more of these, so when I do, I’ll update this post again.