Laundry Hamper Finish

I happen to have be the handy one in my household - I think the hubby was too busy having fun growing up to learn any of his Dad's useful skills, but luckily I have motivation since I always live in houses that need work.  On top of that luckily these days you can find anything on the internet these days if you need help along the way.
 

However, carpentry is one area where I sadly lack.  Even though I have the tools I need, I always seem to be a wee bit off in my measurements when I cut anything made of wood.  Nevertheless when I saw this tutorial for a laundry hamper at Ikatbag earlier this year, I just knew I had to make one.  Combining handy with crafty?  Yes please!


 
 
I figured it should be simple enough, but when I started this project, the Summersville collection had JUST come out (ya, that was April?) and I'd excitedly gotten some of the Brush Strokes in seafoam to make this with, so obviously it's taken me quite awhile to work out the kinks. I just do not seem to be able to remember to read the directions, I keep improvising for some reason.

With the frame I had issues with everything being a bit off, including the holes for the dowels not dead on center.  When I finally got it all together, one leg was a 2 millimeters short and it took me far too long to sand things down so it stopped wobbling.  The bottom isn't "perfect" but isn't that the appeal of handmade goods? ;)

For the fabric part - Her notes specifically say that seam allowances aren't included, so luckily I didn't mess that part up, but I did sew together the bottom without inserting the straps in & since I'd single stitched it twice and run a zig zag stitch along the seams, that was quite the task to rip out enough to fix it.  Then my straps seemed longer than needed anyway.

I felt this fabric needed to be lined for this project since the back side wasn't finished looking like the print used in the tutorial , so I used some neutral Kona cotton and put the buttoning side on the interior instead of the exterior so the lining isn't exposed on the outside.  




Finally though I'm finished!.  It was tricky and time consuming for me, but the hamper is great, it probably would fit a 5 gallon bucket worth of laundry in it, can be adjusted to be taller and narrower or shorter and wider if needed for the space, and it folds up to be carried to the washer.  I'd just suggest if you make this, read the directions you know...right before you start (sane people do that I imagine?) and perhaps write out a separate sheet to coordinate the diagram and measurements of the pdf with the written directions on the web page to reference as you go.

This was a gift for a friend that moved into a new home...well I offered to make them this hamper when they first moved in so they didn't have to get a new laundry basket...now it's a super late housewarming gift, as they are certainly settled in by now!

I've been planning on making myself a giant cubby bookshelf for an easy to see display of my quilting fabric, but with my less than accurate cutting skills, I am a bit nervous about that now! I just need some time to go by so I forget how challenging it is.

I do recommend this if you are handy and like personalized stuff around the house - getting to choose the fabric you want for this, it makes me wish I had kids so I could make ones that matched their rooms. Hell, I'd even make a second one for myself if I had room for one!