Fabric Bucket (for Diaper Supplies, in this case)

I love containers - baskets, bins, tote bags, hand bags, clear glass jars, rubbermaid buckets, etc.  You name it, I love it.  I think it comes from having a low tolerance for clutter around the house.  When stuff is laying around, it's clutter and drives me crazy.  Put that same pile of stuff in a basket and - whalah! - it's no longer clutter.  It's cute and contained and can wait for another day before it get sorted and put away.  For that reason I love to brainstorm containers - fabric buckets, totes, bins, crocheted baskets, or pretty scrapbook paper adorned boxes.   Pinterest has a never ending supply of inspiration that I could only dream of filling my house with.

Anyway, there was a baby shower to sew for recently and I've had visions of fabric buckets dancing around my head so a diaper-changing-station fabric bucket seemed like a good project to try.

There was much trial and error in the making of this bucket... this is the end result.

Its made from home-dec weight canvas from Hancock Fabrics.  The brown trim is quilting cotton and the piping is cotton-covered clothesline.  

The bottom is piped and has a circle of plastic canvas in it to keep it stiff.  

That stiffening is what gave me the most grief with this project.  I tried multiple variations and combinations of fabric, batting, plastic canvas inserts and interfacing to try and get just the right amount of stiffness in both the bottom and the sides.  I loved the plastic canvas in the bottom - I just couldn't get it to work for me in the sides.  It was too stiff, wouldn't stay in a nice circle, kept jabbing and poking in wrong places, and made the top piping lay all goofy.  In hindsight, the sides needed interfacing (probably both the outer layer and the lining) but by the time I figured that out it was all put together with the lining/piping/handles all attached and I wasn't about to pick out all that stitching to add interfacing.  Next time I guess.  As it is, the bottom is awesome and the sides are softer than I'd like, but it is still perfectly functional.  Once you fill it up its nice and sturdy.  

I'm addicted to piping in bags and totes - it gives such a nice crisp edge to things.  I really should have piped the handles too rather than bound them...  

Here is a photo by the sewing machine so you can see the size.  

If I recall correctly the diameter is about 10-11 inches.

Its lined with the same fabric.  I'd like the lining to be smoother and neater but after wrestling plastic canvas in and out of a lining hole multiple times it got all rumply.  

And... here it is all filled up and ready for diaper changes.  

This was a fun project and I learned a lot so I look forward to more fabric buckets in the future.