Week 15 - Bike basket

My daughter has been going back and forth on getting a basket for her bike.  I have even resorted to taking a paper gift bag and looping the straps around the handlebars to help carry her dolls, toys, etc.  Very classy! :)  We went shopping for a basket, but we couldn't find one that she liked.  I saw this pin on pinterest and decided to try it out!

The full tutorial can be found on the blog, Noodlehead.  I cut out my fabric and started making the inside and outside of the basket and putting it together with the heat fusing material.  I tried to pick out fabrics that would match her bike, and I found some peace sign fabric that I already had.  My mom loves peace signs, and therefore, so does my daughter.  I figured I could get away with it not being pink since it had peace signs.  I used Heavy Duty Wonder Under, but I don't think it was quite heavy enough.  It works fine, but it is not as stiff as the basket in the picture.

I ironed it using the method she showed on the website, but then changed to putting the basket on the end of the ironing board because I was seeing wrinkles on the outside of the basket.  I switched so if there were anymore wrinkles, they would be on the inside.

You can see some of the wrinkles here.

Then I was able to sew together the handlebar attachment and put it on.



I took a break at this point to have some dinner, and Baylie found a new use for the basket.

After dinner (and convincing her that it was not a new hat), I was able to add the top border and put it on the bike.  Just when I thought I had gotten away with no pink, my daughter said, "I want it to be pink too!"  I searched my fabrics to see what I had that might coordinate that had some pink in it.  The polka dots came the closest, and she was happy with that.  Not what I would have picked, but she loves it, and it's her basket!

She has used it several times to take her dolls along on bike rides, as well as her bug catcher, to rescue wandering doodle bugs on the sidewalk to return them to their home in the grass.

This project took a little longer, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Much cheaper than buying a plastic woven basket that would have fallen apart in a couple months (considering I already had everything I needed to make it).