So, I'm stuck in a basket making mode.  I have to add the handles to this basket, but I love the teal or turquoise color.  It is a bit smaller than the brown basket that I completed this weekend. However, the challenge of making one of these is having the time to actually sit down and do the prep work.  That involves selecting the fabric, cutting the strips (two sizes, 1/2 inch for the bottom and 1 1/2 for the sides).  Once the strips are cut I then wrap the 1/2 inch strips on cotton cord, gluing the strips on with a washable glue until I have all the strips wrapped. Afterwards, I sew the 1 1/2 inch strips end-to-end to create a long, continuous strip of fabric.  The final prep step it to sew the fabric onto more cord as if I'm making piping.  This is rather monotonous work, but very necessary to create the cording needed to build a basket and lid.

Before sewing the basket, starting with the wrapped cord, I measure a length of wrapped cord and sit aside for the handles.  I start with the basket's bottom and begin the process by taking the tip of the wrapped cord and winding about an inch clockwise.  I use a triple zigzag stitch on a 6.0 stitch setting and a size 16 needle to begin stitching the bottom.