The Hour Basket with Pellon Fusible Flex-Foam

*the giveaway is now closed*

One hour basket

Pellon has a really exciting brand new product available:  Flex – Foam.  I think you are going to like it!

Pellon® Flex-Foam™ is a lightweight stabilizer consisting of a layer of foam sandwiched between two layers of soft fabric. It is excellent for use in crafts, accessories, and home décor projects for an elegant finished look. It can be used in place of or in addition to other stabilizers. Flex-Foam is a breeze to sew through and adds shape and body to projects such as computer cases, eyeglass cases, purses, tote bags, cup holders, diaper bags, and more! It is compatible with a wide variety of fabrics. It is available as a sew-in, a 1-sided fusible or a 2-sided fusible. Available 20” on the board and 60” on the roll in all of your favorite stores.

I was lucky enough to get some advance product to test it out and I decided to make my good friend, Kelly’s, Hour Basket.  This is a free pattern that Kelly has offered and I know tons of you have already downloaded it and made it.  But I’m COMPLETELY sold on making this with Fusible Flex Foam.  Love it.  Seriously.

One hour basket

I used a precious piece of fabric I own for my basket…a fat quarter size piece of fabric cut from an old Orla Kiely table cloth sold at Target YEARS ago.  So, sorry!  Good luck finding any!  I used Kelly’s pattern and cut my pieces of foam and fabric to size.  And easy peasy, I fused the fabric to the Foam.  I used the one sided Fusible Flex-Foam because I added a lining that was separate from the base of the basket.  To sew the pieces together, I broke out my Clover Wonder clips. (If you don’t own these you should!!)  And this was the first time that I wanted the jumbo version actually.  But the regular ones worked really well to hold these layers together.

One hour basket

I used a foot that could accommodate some bulk…any kind of dual feed foot system or walking foot should do fine.  It was super easy to sew over this.  I was really surprised by that.  I expected it to be more difficult.

One hour basket

Following the steps of Kelly’s pattern, I again used my clips to start sewing box into three dimensions.  Again, this was so much easier than I anticipated.  The foam moved so easily into this shape.  I did finger press my seams open as you can see to help eliminate any bulk and match my seams easier.

You can see below how well this basket is standing on its own without even being sewn or encouraged into a square shape.

One hour basket

I added the lining as per the instructions and again broke out the wonder clips (seriously…buy these) to hold the edges of the two together.  I was pretty easily able to put this under my machine foot and sew all the way around the edge.   The next step which you don’t see is always the trickiest when making any lined bag…pulling the whole bag through a small opening in the bottom of the lining.  There was some tugging that went on, but again…not painful. (I may have a hidden fear of bags lol…I’m realizing that as I write this).  It all turned perfectly and…..<

One hour basket

I am SO HAPPY with my new basket!!  This is a really good size basket.  I know people who made these for Easter Baskets last year for their kids and I understand why now.  I personally took a note from Kelly and chose to fill mine with bundles of precuts.  I’ve got a huge F8th bundle and two Fat Quarter Bundles in there.<

One hour basket

I couldn’t be happier with it!!  I did a little hand pressing on the sides to encourage the foam into shape, but it did not need much.  It has a beautiful shape empty (I just like it filled with fabric!)

Overall, I was very impressed with the fusible flex-foam and would use it again in a heart beat.  I was particularly impressed with how well the fabric fused to the foam.  There is no rippling in the fabric on the foam…I hate when that happens with interfacing.  I’m sure that is user error, but I had no user error here. I just have a beautiful finished product.


*the giveaway is now closed*

Congrats to the winner! #189 AnnetteSeptember 12, 2015 at 7:31 PM

I’m not sure if I could be gluten-free. I love pasta too much!

And now for the giveaway!!

 Pellon is offering one lucky winner a package of 1 yard cuts of each of the three varieties of Flex-Foam. 

To enter, just leave a comment below.  I’ve recently gone Gluten free for health reasons and may do a Paleo diet in the future.  So if you have any tips on healthy eating I’d love to hear those….or tell me why you could never do it! lol    Good luck!!

214 thoughts on “The Hour Basket with Pellon Fusible Flex-Foam”

  1. your basket is lovely. good luck on eating gluten free. I am doing the same for health reasons. I look at all labels for there is wheat everywhere. check out the different names for wheat flour. Research Paleo well before you start. I have found that I will use a lot of recipes but I have chosen to go low carbs. and low sugars. This for me is by far better and healthier.
    quilting dash lady at Comcast dot net

  2. Gorgeous Basket! I haven't done Paleo, but I've done several Whole 30's which is similar if not a bit more restricted. My greatest discovery has been the company TesseMae's who make all natural sauces, marinades and dressings. They have a pull down on their website so you can filter by "diet". I'm also a huge fan of LaCroix waters at Target and the individual packs of Guacamole at the grocery store. I'm now a Guac addict! Good luck with the changes.

  3. Would love to try this product! I'm going to see if I can find it in a shop around here.

    Don't really have any healthy eating habits for you. Good luck on going gluten free. I'm happy to see there are more products available now than there have been in the past!

    Sandy A

  4. I have two children and a daughter-in-law that are gluten free and I'm mostly gluten free. It's a big change but not really all that hard. There are a lot of new products but be careful some of it is just plain junk food just like it's gluten filled variety. That said do try the healthy ones, there are some really good ones. Read and reread the labels and you will be okay.

  5. One of my step daughters has been on the Paleo diet for more than a year. She lost the excess weight she had and is the best shape of her life. She used to be someone who never saw a vegetable that she liked.

  6. Your basket turned out just perfect using the Flex-Foam. I'm seriously going to have to buy some of the 1-sided fusible and make some baskets, too.
    Gluten-free is supposed to be very healthy for you… I never heard of Paleo outside of Archeology. Good luck.

  7. WOW! This new product looks just like what I have been waiting for.
    Would love to give it a try..and find out where it will be sold.
    I am Gluten Free and have been for years. The first months are the
    hardest then it gets to be the norm. You just have to find out what
    upsets you and what you can eat. There are a lot of Gluten Free products online
    and on your grocery shelves. Just takes time to check them all out. Good Luck!

  8. LOVE your Basket…and the fabric you used is Perfect!! Awesome job!! Thanks for all the info & Tutorial! Would definitely make some Baskets for my Quilty things! & Thanks for chance to win your give-a-way too! 🙂

  9. I've been on a GF diet for about 7 years now and I still have rough days. But there's so many options now so it's much easier! Anything done by Pamela's brand is good and I think that Udi's is the best gluten-free bread that you can buy pre-made. I hate cooking and baking so I use a lot of those products. However, if you are interested in it, make sure to use a lot of different flours and not just one because that makes it taste weird and gives it a weird texture, too. Look for recipes with a few different kinds of flours.

  10. My eating guideline is to eat a straight-forward assortment of food. Use real foods. Avoid artificial colorings, artificial flavorings, and preservatives as much as possible. — soparkaveataoldotcom

  11. My daughter is allergic to gluten, dairy and eggs, and she decided to go vegan on top of that!! I try and keep cooked rice in the frig that she can use in place of wheat products. Jasmine rice is the BEST!! If you like breakfast cereal, Rice and Corn Chex and Rice Crispies are safe. Oh, and tortilla chips w/ taco salad is a great dinner idea (my favorite!) Just read labels, and more whole food cooking as compared w/ prepared foods. Here is a link to my daughter's pinterest board. You do need to check out the recipes and their ingredients because she's pinned some things that might have gluten, but the recipe is a take-off for a gluten free recipe. Good luck!! Hugs, H in Healdsburg https://www.pinterest.com/helenlebrett/gluten-dairy-egg-free/

  12. Love the tutorial, I need good visuals when sewing bags! I hate yanking it through the tiny hole too! I'm fascinated by all the diet tips everyone has shared, good luck with your diet!

  13. Love your bag! And the fabric, of course 🙂 As for Paleo, I've done 2 rounds of Whole30 and love the way I feel with it. There are tons of really good recipe books out there and some ways to make it easy as well. Costco and Trader Joe's are where I shop now because they have a ton of organic meat and veggie options, some with very little cooking required. Also, Wholly Guacamole comes in individual little packs, so if you like guacamole those are amazing. I pretty much eat them with every meal! It is extra cooking, but it's completely worth it in my book. Good luck!!

  14. Great basket, good job! Going gluten free is very tough, but if you can make through at least ten days you can keep it up. When I first cut out all whites, sugars, yeast etc… I was in agony from head to toe for the first three days… who knew you could go through withdrawals from all that? I will say though, after I got past that I started feeling much better, physically, emotionally and mentally. Here's wishing you success with going gluten free.

  15. Love your basket, such a great review if the new Flex Foam. I've been a vegetarian for about 20 years, I feel healthy & happy. Good luck with your diet, I think that whatever makes you happy & feels right is a good way to go.

  16. Your basket is beautiful and handy! I love the way it stands up so sturdily. (Is that a word?) As for healthy eating, I bought a CSA share this summer for the first time, and that big box of vegetables every week (some I didn't even recognize) encouraged us to learn new menu ideas. Our goal was to use all the vegetables in one box before it was time to pick up the next box, so we ate a lottttt of vegetables, and froze some vegetable-based soups and entrees to eat this fall. I can't say I loved everything, but I'm eating my vegetables!

  17. I don't usually deprive myself of food, but I do try to eat in moderation. And I exercise every day. My new thing is to try and stand up while working on the computer.

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