How to make a crochet basket stand up?

The way to make your crochet basket stand up is to create a sturdy base. The hook and yarn type you choose has a huge effect on whether your crochet basket will stand by itself or cave in.

Your crochet basket must be able to stand by itself to serve its purpose as a container or storage for your things. To make your crochet basket stand up, you can use one of these seven easy ways.

1. Use a smaller hook.
2. Use t-shirt yarn.
3. Use a tight stitch.
4. Use the invisible round.
5. Use a hard basket base.
6. Use a fabric stiffener.
7. Use wire to crochet over.

How do you stiffen a crochet basket?

There are many techniques you can use to stiffen a crochet basket. One of the most popular and simplest ways to make a crochet basket stand up is by using a tight stitch. It would be best to make a crochet basket stand up because a floppy basket would be useless. You can use one or a combination of these ways to make your crochet basket stand up.

1. Use a smaller hook than what is recommended.

A tight stitch helps stiffen a crochet basket. You can create tight stitches when you use a smaller hook than your yarn label’s recommended size. Using the hook suggested on the label will create normal tension on the yarn. When you use a smaller hook, you can make a tighter stitch. The fabric formed is denser and stiff enough to stand. This technique is also useful for crocheting amigurumi to make sure your crochet stitches are tight and hole-free.

2. Use a bulky weight yarn.

Another way to stiffen up your crochet basket is to use super bulky weight yarn. Sometimes, crochet patterns need to double up the yarns to create tighter stitches. T-shirt yarn can achieve the thickness needed to make a crochet basket.

There are many benefits to using a t-shirt yarn, aside from being a perfect yarn material to crochet a basket.

• Yarn thickness

T-shirt yarn has the right thickness to crochet baskets to make them stand. T-shirt yarn is, most of the time, thicker than super bulky yarns.

• Durability

T-shirt yarn is a rigid material, and crocheting them into baskets makes them even stronger. Crochet baskets made of t-shirt yarn are durable enough to last you a lifetime.

• Eco-friendly

If t-shirt yarns are not available at your local yarn stores, you can make them from your old favorite shirts to give them a new life. T-shirt yarns are ideal if you want to use environment-friendly materials for your crocheted pieces.

• Great selection of colors and sizes

T-shirt yarns have lovely designs and colors to choose from. You can make your crochet basket as unique as it can be.

3. Choose a tight stitch.

The common stitch used to crochet baskets is the single crochet stitch. It is the shortest among the basic stitches that can create a bit of height but still keep the tension.

Another technique that crocheters do to meet a tight stitch is to use two strands of yarn. Crocheting with two yarn strands will create a very thick and close fabric. The only drawback is you have to use twice the amount of yarn.
Crocheting with two yarns does not apply to t-shirt yarns because one strand is sturdy enough as it is.

4. Make an invisible round.

When crocheting a basket, the first thing to achieve must be a sturdy and thick base. It should be strong enough to hold the side stitches of your crochet basket.

You can create a sturdy base for your crochet basket by adding an extra round of stitches to your base. This is what you call the invisible round.

Here are the steps to crochet a basket with invisible round:

• Crochet a flat circle for the base. The number of rows depends on your pattern or the size of the basket you want.
• After crocheting a flat circle, slip stitch around the base but through the back loops only.
• Then, single crochet in each stitch around but not on the top of the slip stitches. Single crochet only at the back loops of the slip stitches. You are covering up the slip stitches that you made, thus the name, invisible round. This extra step creates a thick and tough base for the sides of your crochet basket.

5. Include a hard base for your crochet basket.

You may use a wooden or aluminum base as a rigid base for your crochet basket as an alternative. You can find these ready-made hard basket base in craft stores like Hooked For Life. The base comes with holes where you can slip stitch around the edges.

To crochet a basket with a hard basket base, follow these instructions:

• Prepare the base. Using your sturdy bulky yarn, slip stitch around the basket base’s holes. The technique is similar to what you do for surface crochet.
• After all the holes have slip stitches, pull the yarn tail to the side, you have been stitching on.
  Pull the yarn end through the center of the last stitch and weave through the row.
• For the 2nd row, insert hook on the first stitch made in round 1 on the base’s other side. Yarn over, then pull up a loop. Pull up a loop in the next stitch, yarn over then, pull through both loops for your first single crochet. Place a marker on the first single crochet.
  Make a single crochet in each loop of the base, including the loop at the beginning of the round.
• For the next rows, single crochet in each stitch around. Work your crochet basket in a spiral, meaning there are no joins as you finish each row. You can use a stitch marker in each round’s first stitch to track the number of rows.
• Crochet the number of rows according to the height of the basket that you want.

6 Stiffen your crochet with a fabric stiffener.

You can use a fabric stiffener to make your crochet basket stand up. This technique is commonly used for doilies or Christmas decorations.

You can choose from various fabric stiffeners to make your crochet basket stand firm. You can use spray-on starch that you can find in the supermarkets. You can make your fabric stiffeners from household items like sugar, potato flour, starch, or glue mixed with water.

After completing your crochet basket, you can spray fabric stiffener on the surface. Reshape and leave to dry. If you are using the DIY fabric stiffener mixture, dip the crochet basket in the solution until it has soaked through. Squeeze off excess fluid, reshape your basket then leave to dry.

7. Crochet over the wire.

Most crochet projects are usually soft and flexible. Those are the characteristics you would expect from shawls or sweaters. But if you are crocheting something that should stand by itself, using the usual yarns will not do.

It is great that some crocheters were creative enough to combine rigidity and beauty in some projects like crochet baskets. Crocheting over the wire can create beautiful crochet pieces like clothing hampers, food baskets, or toy storage. These are crocheted items that are sturdy and, at the same time, lovely to look at.

What is the best yarn to crochet a basket?

The best yarn to crochet a basket is, hands down, the t-shirt yarn. The t-shirt yarn can be frugally made from 100% cotton t-shirts. What makes it the ideal choice to crochet baskets is the thickness of the fabric. When combined with the right stitches, this quality makes a sturdy basket that will not cave in on its sides.

Another plus of the t-shirt yarn is its sustainability. T-shirt yarn is made of 100% cotton. And since it is plant-based, it is environmentally-friendly. Cotton is easy to harvest, renewable, and also a sustainable material. By choosing cotton t-shirt yarn, we select the material with the best quality and help take care of the environment.

In terms of sturdiness, the cotton t-shirt yarn ranks first. Being bulky makes it the best material to crochet a durable basket and will not fall apart easily.

The next in line is wool, which has a tremendous visual appeal and projects a very cozy feeling. If you use wool for your crochet basket, it will help your home exude that warm and laidback feel. This material is also water-resistant and will not quickly lose form, so it is ideal to use household items that may have the possibility to get wet.

Acrylic is another potential option for crocheting baskets. It is a highly durable material with a wide range of colors to choose from. With acrylic, it would be easy to find yarn colors that would match your home’s color scheme. The only disadvantage would be is that it is a human-made fiber, meaning not sustainable.

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How do you crochet a basket out of t-shirt yarn?

First, you need to make your t-shirt yarn. To make the t-shirt yarn, follow these simple steps.

1. Lay the t-shirt flat on the table. Cut the bottom sewn hem. You may save it for a future project.
2. Then, working from the end closest to you, cut strips upwards, 1.5 inches wide per strip. Cut both sides of the shirt at the same time. Cut strips but stop at around one inch before you reach the top. Keep cutting strips until you get below the sleeve area. You can save the top side of the sleeve for other projects.
3. Lay the shirt flat, then cut a diagonal from the shirt’s edge to the first cut strip. Then, cut diagonally from one cut strip to the next cut strip to create a continuous fabric strip. When you get to the last strip, cut diagonally towards the edge, similar to what you did to the first strip.
4. Tug on the fabric to stretch it and make the edges curl under, producing a very nice t-shirt yarn.

Next, crochet your basket out of the t-shirt yarn. Follow these easy steps to crochet your sturdy basket. (Use hdc)

1. Using your hook (size Q recommended) and your t-shirt yarn, create a magic ring. Then, chain 1.
2. For round 1, do 12hdc in the ring. After making all 12hdc, pull the end of the magic ring to tighten the ring center. Slip stitch to the first stitch then, chain 1.
3. For round 2, make 1hdc on the stitch after the chain. Then, make 2hdc in every stitch around. After completing the last hdc, slip stitch to the first stitch—chain 1.
4. For round 3, make 2hdc in one stitch, then 1hdc in the next stitch. Repeat this pattern until the end of the round. Make a slip stitch to the first stitch—chain 1.
5. For the 4th round, make 2hdc on the same stitch, then 1hdc on the next stitch, and 1hdc on the next stitch. Repeat this pattern until you reach the end of round 4. When you get to the end, make a slip stitch to the first stitch. Now, you have finished the bottom.
6. To make the sides, chain 1. Then, single stitch around every stitch but on the back loop only. When you get to the end of the round, do not slip stitch.
7. Instead, do 1sc on both loops of the first single crochet of the round. Continue making single crochet around under both loops. In crocheting the sides, work in continuous spiral rounds without slip stitches. It would be best if you marked every round’s first stitch. Remove the marker when you have reached that point to make the next first stitch for the next round. Mark the new first stitch.
8. Continue making single crochets under two loops for as many rounds as you want. You can change the stitch you are using from single crochet into a different one on the last round. Making a stitch change can create a nice edge to your crocheted basket. Weave in the yarn ends, and your t-shirt yarn basket is all done.