Butterfly Lace BasketPiece List

Six basket sides

Two basket handles One each of four base pieces

Two free standing small butterflies

(optional)

Thread ListRobison Anton thread Colorsthe following list will give you the total amount of thread yardage needed to complete the lace basket. This only accounts for the topstitching, not any bobbins you may need to wind.

Terra Cotta - 416 metersSand Dune - 281 metersMelonade - 573 - metersOpaline - 822 metersAmber Beige - 337 metersPro Cinnamon - 244 meters

Coordinating Embroidery Designs for the HomeButterfly Lace Basket

Gather and lay out the four pieces of the base.

Use the joining stitch to attach the sides. We used brown (Sand Dune) thread for all the joining. It seemed to blend the best. Go slow around the curves to ensure a snug fit. When you are done with the first one continue with the next four. When it is done you will have a fairly long piece of lace. Now it’s time to connect the circle. Use the same technique, but you may want to use the free arm feature on your machine for ease of manipulation, and good visibility.

Stitch two sides of the base together using the joining stitch. Use a fairly short stitch. This will insure that the base lays down flat and doesn't pucker. Once you are done with the base set it aside, it is now time to put the sides of the basket together.

The six sides of the base are joined along the small butterfly section. The straight bottom edges need to be flush and we found that starting in the center and working out to both edges made the alignment easy.

This picture shows the base complete.

Coordinating Embroidery Designs for the HomeButterfly Lace Basket

In this step we are aligning the sides of the basket to the base. In order for the handle to center correctly the sides and the base have to be aligned at key points. Align the tail of the large butterfly at the shorter base seam and the smaller butterfly line at the longer base seam. On the following pictures you can see how it’s done.

Sewing along a curve is not the easiest thing to do so we are going to tack the pieces together at the four base lines using the automatic button sewing feature(or a zig zag set at zero stitch length).

This picture shows you what you have accomplished so far. Now the real fun starts!

Step 5 Step 6

Now we are going to permanently apply the sides to the base. You are using the same joining stitch for this step. If you can’t see because the sides are in the way, simply fold them back, it won’t affect the way the basket will turn out.

Coordinating Embroidery Designs for the Home

Anita Goodesign’sAnita Goodesign’s

Butterfly Lace Basket

This is what the basket looks like so far.

This is the finished basket. Now we need to rinse the stabilizer out and mold it into shape.

Once the base is attached to the sides we are going to tack the tips of each butterfly wing together. Use the same automatic button sewing stitch as you did when joining the base and sides. Doing this will prevent the wings from curling.

Now it is time to create the handle. Take your two sew outs, line them up end to end and join them along the center seam with a joining stitch.

Once the handle is made we can attach it to the basket. The handle fits in the grooves of the butterfly antenna. Use a joining stitch to fit it into place. Repeat this on the other side. You may need to squish the basket a little- that’s O.K., It’s just thread!

Anita Goodesign’sAnita Goodesign’s

Butterfly Lace Basket

Use a rolled up towel fitted snugly around the base to help keep the basket retain its shape while drying. Add another towel arched underneath the handle to give it support while drying.

Rinse the basket lightly under warm water. Be careful not to over saturate with water. Once this is done pat dry on top of a towel to remove excess water.

This is what your basket will look like before the final pressing and shaping.

As you know pressing something round isn’t the easiest thing to do. So, we constructed a pressing tool out of a towel and a butter cookie tin! The pictures above illustrate how we use the tin to press the base and sides of the basket.

Anita Goodesign’sAnita Goodesign’s

Butterfly Lace Basket

Tips and Tricks

Meanwhile our 3D lace butterflies are now dry.

You can either attach the small butterflies using a hand stitch or with glue.

Pre wind all of your bobbin colors so that the thread matches on both sides of the lace. We use the same thread as our top stitching.

We used a piece of clear boning under the handle to add additional support.

The final product.