/ by Stephanie Burnette /photography by Will Crooks
A clothesline basket evokes homemakers of a bygone generation but artisans like Allison Walsh of Ashley Jacks Handmade are bringing back the iconic container with a new spin on a very useful item.
Walsh is a writer by trade, in fact she writes stories for atHome, but a few years back she asked for a sewing machine on a whim, thinking it’d be a fun skill to learn alongside her then nine-year old daughter. “I was not what you’d consider a crafty person,” she says. “It took me two days just to learn how to thread the machine, but I kind of found myself in sewing.”
She worked through simple tasks using online instructions. By the next year she was completing quilts and was officially “fabric obsessed.” Instagram led her to new projects and inspiring ideas including clothesline or rag baskets.
“I had made some fabric baskets and different storage things but I thought these looked like a faster way to accomplish it and I like the rustic fashion of them,” she says. “If I want to get in here and make something from start to finish, then I’ll make a basket. It’s very difficult for me to be in a bad mood when I’m sewing.”
From raw materials to finished container, Walsh will produce a sizeable two fabric coil basket in an hour or two and can whip out smaller versions methodically in multiples. Basic quilting cotton is pliable enough to wind around the clothesline rope, which she likes for its natural feel and does not require a stiffening agent. It’s the size of the initial base—four inches or six or eight— that determines the overall finished size, though what Walsh likes best is the freeform ease of constructing it.
“It’s really an improv thing,” she says. “You don’t have to measure out how long your fabric needs to be. When quilting, a 1/4 inch can make a big difference in your project and I enjoy that too; it’s very accurate and comes out the way you want, but the flip side is it’s fun to come in here and just sew a basket.”
Their utility is undeniable. Walsh keeps hand-sewing supplies in small coil baskets in her adroitly tidy studio and uses them to hold the parts and pieces of projects in process. Her daughter, now a teenager, puts them on her vanity for makeup and designers across the south are placing clothesline baskets on bookshelves and dressers alike for their unfussy but distinctly handmade look.
@AshleyJacksHandmade sells on Etsy and at regional shows offering baskets, pouches and distinctive modern quilts. Allison Walsh penned our feature story about a reimagined Paris Mountain Modern
Fabric strips of varying lengths, cut to a width of roughly 1 inch, Thread of a coordinating or contrasting color, depending on the look, Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.
Process: Wind the rope into a ball before getting started. You will be working with one continuous piece of rope still attached to your ball throughout this process. Don’t cut the rope until your bowl is complete.
How To:
1. Start by coiling the loose end of your rope into a fairly tight circle, about 1” in diameter. Secure with straight pins. Using the zigzag stitch, sew an X through the middle of the circle, making several passes back and forth and taking care not to sew over pins. Rotate and repeat one or two times to create a nice, sturdy circle with no gaps between the rope layers.
2. Keep the rope ball to the right of the machine. Use your left hand to rotate the base and your right hand to hold the new layer of rope to the base as it turns. Position the coil so that the needle will hit both the outside edge of the center coil and the new layer of rope, securing them together.
3. Continue sewing until you’ve reached the desired diameter for the base of the bowl. A 4” base will make a nice sized bowl for corralling keys; 6” bases lay the groundwork for larger bowls. When you’re happy with the base, lift one side with your left hand, gently pressing it against your machine as you continue to sew around. This will create the bowl shape.
4. To add color and texture, incorporate fabric strips at random. Lay one end of the fabric strip diagonally across the rope an inch or two below the coil, with an inch hanging over. Wrap the end around the rope, securing the corners underneath the fabric. Hold the end of the fabric strip tightly with your fingers as you wrap it around on the diagonal one or two more times.
5. Continue sewing around, stopping to wrap more of the fabric around the rope as needed or until the fabric strip is secured. The number of fabric strips you use is up to you, just keep an eye on how the color is being distributed to make sure it doesn’t all end up stacked on one side.
6. When you’re happy with the size of your bowl, finishing it off is a snap: cut the rope, leaving a few inches of slack. Fold the end under itself, forming a loop against the lip of the bowl, and zigzag stitch to secure it.
