laundry basket – RosieMRogers

A little while ago I was thinking out loud on this blog about how I should go about making my own washing basket, crochet style. After lots of research into patterns, craft techniques and the fabric materials I should use, I settled on a making a DIY rag rug style basket with a giant crochet hook and second hand sheets. I’m pretty pleased with the finished result as you can see here!

I couldn’t decide on a particularly intricate pattern especially as I’ll be moving and probably redecorating pretty soon, so I stuck to a simple yet striking design of purple and white stripes. I used a size 12 crochet hook and 4 double bed sheets (2 white, 2 purple, bough cheaply from eBay), ripping the sheets into strips of fabric about 1 1/2 inches thick. 4 sheets sounds like a lot of fabric, but it gets used up very quickly! The finished basket was pretty stiff but not completely upright, if you wanted a more rigid structure I’d recommend making the strips 2 inches thick. 4 sheets makes a basket about 20 inches tall and 14 inches in diameter, which manages to squeeze well over a load of washing into the basket, with a little fabric left over to make a lid, or maybe some mini baskets.

The pattern was inspired by this basket pattern on the Crochet in Color blog, but a little simpler. I used double crochets throughout the pattern, but the line definition was created by only putting your fabric through one of the loops on every other row. Super easy for any crochet beginners looking for a new project, but a willing to put in a bit of muscle into a new project!

Crochet washing basket

I think this basket is definitely going to be the start of a new motto to stop buying things I don’t like, and keep making things I love instead.

Have you made any household crochet items with a giant crochet hook? Be sure to share in the comments, as I’ll need some more project inspiration soon!

The road to crafting glory is a tremulous one. You always start with the giddy excitement of a new project, fantasizing about how amazing the finished article is going to look. Soon after, you encounter the frustrations of trying to get your head around learning a new technique, going wrong and (often in my case) starting again. And again. And…. damn it not again! Time disappears. It will always take twice as long as you think it will take. You’ll get asked to make something else in between. But then the feeling of finally finishing and parading your new wares around the house/friends/internet, oh the smug joy! And then the joyus craft cycle begins again.

Usually I have about three projects on the go, but I’ve just finished all three within the last few weeks, all of which I’ll blog within due time. So now I have to decide on what to make next. And I just don’t know. One thing we really need in the flat is a washing basket, as we’re currently using a very unsightly plastic box for our dirty laundry, but that will mean buying some thicker rag style yarn. Why is it always the case that with a new project it always means buying more materials?

I’m thinking a basket like this on the Crochet in color blog would be perfect. But with a lid.

Crochet in color - Chunky crocheted basket

If I don’t want to shell out £££ for more yarn, so I could try ripping up old T-shirts to make a rag style basket as featured on valzcorner. But who has that many T-shirts? *Raids the boyfriend’s wardrobe*

valzcorner - crochet with old T-shirts

I love the colours and simple DC crochet pattern in this basket on Dknits. It could be a contender.

donaknits - Laundry basket

If the colours were plain, then putting a decorative motif would be a must, like on this rug featured on the Upcycle magazine blog.

Upcycle Magazine - How To: Make An Upcycled Crochet Rug

But why stop with one motif? Like this Pinterest pin, tapestry crochet could be the way forward! I could make an entire scene… or try and striking fair-isle knitting pattern. It’s time to raid my knitting patterns Pinterest board!

Crochet tapestry