New Space, New Make

As a brand ambassador for Kokka Fabrics, I am able to select a fabric of my choice to create any project I desire. Sometimes, this task can be daunting. I like to make something that I personally will use and love. Something that fits with the aesthetic and vibe of our home.

When I was asked to select a fabric for the upcoming round of Ambassador Makes, I was in the middle of a move. Not only were we moving several states away, but we would not have a "home" for several weeks due to closing dates selected by both our buyers and the sellers of our soon-to-be new home. Once moved into our new home, I'm sure you can understand that the studio would be the last room to be unpacked. I guess food takes precedence over fabric. Hmmm....might make for a great debate someday. Ha!

Anyway, after moving into the new home and unpacking all of the necessities, I began to unpack the Studio. It is a lovely room with lots of space, windows, angles, and UGLY DARK GREY CARPET! Honestly, I found it difficult to even BE in the space, much less be creative in the space. (I may be a bit dramatic, but please say you're with me on this!)

The Studio in its Dark Era.

So, after unpacking 10% of the room, Superman (aka Hubby), decided that we should bite the bullet and just install hardwood flooring. YAY! Normally, we would do it ourselves, but there was certainly an urgency to this project and paying The Man would give us new flooring in a day, maybe two.

The new flooring was installed in a day (I won't talk about how long it took to install hardwood on the stairs). The bottom line is that the room was ready for sewing and I could start on the Kokka project.

I selected Muddy Works Anpan Cotton Lightweight Canvas in black. I had a specific need for this fabric. While our laundry room is lovely, it just doesn't have enough space to store all of my cleaning supplies. I buy my laundry detergent in the giant plastic containers from Costco and while they prevent me from buying detergent frequently, they also take up a lot of space. I also want to keep them close, so the best place for me is on top of the washer. But I don't want to see bright red and light blue plastic when I look into my beautiful laundry room!

Before.

I decided the lightweight canvas would be perfect to make bins to hold the plastic containers. The black and white anpan pattern is modern and would add just the right touch of interest to the room and the lightweight canvas paired with a heavyweight interfacing would be just the right stiffness to keep the basket firm in its shape. *In case you were wondering, in Japanese, anpan is a sweet bun filled with anko which is a sweet bean paste. The name is a combination of "an" (for anko) and "pan" (the Japanese word for bread), creating "an-pan". 

To expedite the making process, I used Lillyella's Sturdy Fabric Basket tutorial. She did all the math for me! I just plugged in the numbers for my final dimensions and voila! Seriously, I find no shame in using other people's formulas or patterns so I can get to the making faster.

Without going into a lot of detail about the basket-making process, I will say that it was very easy and required Peltex 71F which is a stiff, one-sided, fusible interfacing. It was difficult to find the 71F and I ended up purchasing it online from Hartland Quilt Shop. I later found out that my friend, Precious had it at her shop, Sew Magarbo. Oops! I also used a poly thread and an 80 universal needle.

The trickiest part was adhering the interfacing to the exterior

I added 3/4" to the lining which gave it a larger "cuff" to fold over. This not only gave it a more proportionate contrasting fabric, but it allowed me to add my tannaMade hand touch.

Adding tannaMade touches. I hand-stitched down the cuff using 8wt. perle cotton thread in ecru.

The baskets hide my unsightly plastic bottles perfectly and the Kokka fabric adds a beautiful, yet simple touch to the laundry room. If I ever decide to start using fabric detergent sheets, I can easily use the baskets for storage in any room of our home (fabric scraps in the studio, toilet paper in the bathroom, bags of pasta in the pantry...).

The ugly containers fit perfectly inside the fabric baskets.

Because I was gifted 3 yards of fabric, I couldn't just stop at two baskets. I decided it was time to upgrade my laundry basket as well. I bought a tall, round wire basket from HomeGoods. It had a plain canvas liner that was begging to be upgraded, although, I do have plans for that liner fabric. Side note: I give all of my money to either Costco or HomeGoods. Don't you?

I deconstructed the liner and used it for a pattern. It was super easy to stitch up the liner. I created french seams to stitch the two main pieces and reused the elastic bands that keep the liner snug inside the basket. There is a curved cut-out at the handles and rather than fight the curve to fold the fabric under, I used double-fold bias tape to hide the raw edges. Easy peasy!

Adding double bias tape to the curved edges.

Of course I used my Bernina 590 to stitch the project and the 10D foot created a perfect stitch line for my seams.

Such a clean look with the bias tape

Believe it or not, seeing the beautiful fabric in my laundry room might just make me want to do the laundry more. Maybe.

I just love the clean, modern look of the Kokka fabric and it was a dream to work with. There was no fraying, it pressed nicely, and it wasn't too heavy, allowing the edges to be turned and pressed easily. If you are interested in getting your hands on this fabric, there are several ways! You can order straight from the Kokka website. While the fabric is from Japan, it is shipped from the US, eliminating the long international shipping wait time. And bonus! If you use the code TannaMade15, you will receive 15% off. Yay! Another option is to check your local quilt shop. Many carry Kokka fabrics. And if they don't, you should ask them to.

Happy stitching!

xo,

Tanna

Beautiful addition to our laundry room