Somehow it seems that the amount of toys just exponentially grows. Constantly. So, good storage is called for, preferably good-looking as well. You know me and that I couldn’t just accept any ol’ storage bin. To get what I wanted, I had to do it myself.

In addition to toys you can store yarns if you like knitting or blankets in the bucket. At least in Finland you can definitely feel autumn coming.

These fabric buckets are so easy to make. My sewing experience is mainly from junior high, and I managed. I got inspired by these instructions but made the buckets much larger scale. With these buckets you don’t need to count the pi of the circle or anything like that. You just sew rectangles together and make them boxed corners.

Materials

• two 70 x 90 cm (27,5 x 35,5″) pieces of patterned fabric
• two 70 x 90 cm (27,5 x 35,5″) pieces of lining fabric
• two 70 x 90 cm (27,5 x 35,5″) pieces of heavyweight (felt) fusible iron-on interfacing
• Sewing machine
• Iron and ironing board
• Tape measure and ruler
• Fabric pen or chalk
• Scissors
• Pins

1. Place the patterned pieces of fabric right sides together and sew the sides and bottom together (two 90 cm sides and 70 cm bottom).
2. To make the boxed corner, measure 7 cm from the corner seam in both directions and mark them with a fabric pen or chalk. (Note: don’t measure from the edge of the fabric).
3. Pull out the sides of the bucket and place the points you marked against each other. Draw a line across the corner.







4. Sew along the line twice so the seam will be stronger.
5. Cut the corner off. Repeat steps 2 – 5 on the other side of the bucket. Press the seams out and turn right sides out.
6. Iron the fusible interfacing on the back side of the lining fabric following the manufactor’s instructions. The bucket is so big I used a fusible felt interfacing. For smaller bucket you can use regular heavyweight interfacing, but attach it to both the patterned fabric and lining. Sew the lining pieces together as you did the patterned pieces but leave a 17 cm gap in the middle of the bottom.







7. Repeat steps 2 -5 with the lining but don’t turn it right sides out.
8. Place the patterned fabric inside the lining. The right sides of the patterned fabric should be facing the right sides of the lining. Line the seams and boxed corners up as well as the top edges of both the patterned fabric bucket and the lining.
9. Sew the top edges together and cut off any seam allowance.











10. Pull the patterned fabric gently though the 17 cm gap in the lining. Stich the gap closed.
11. Turn the lining inside the bucket
12. Press the top edge and top stich all around it. Your bucket is ready! You can turn over as much of the fabric as you like.

TIPs: You can make different height buckets. For the lower bucket cut 70 x 60 cm (27,5 x 23,6″) pieces of fabric. The smaller bucket will stand on its own, the higher won’t so well if empty.

You can find lovely vintage fabrics, sheets and curtains from flea markets and thrift stores if you wish to use recycled materials.

The beautiful hamam towels are from So Pretty. They’re so lovely I don’t know if I’ll have the heart to use them as towels or if I’ll keep them as blankets in the living room. It’s nice to have a blanket should you take a nap, you know :)