As I mentioned in my last post, this "quick & easy" rope basket project was initially neither quick or easy. I kept having thread pool up underneath, no matter what I did. I researched online about sewing rope baskets on old Singers, about getting the right tension, and about the proper way to do a zigzag stitch. Then, in the last article about a zigzag stitch, the kind author noted that if you're having a problem with tension you might to want to check the pressure bar "because we've all left it up time to time."

And that was it! The pressure bar. The cause of all my troubles.

In an effort to fit the clothesline under my sewing machine, I hadn't lowered it. May I chalk up a bit of that to recent late night teething sessions? Anyways, it turns out if your pressure foot is lowered properly, these really are a dream to sew up. I even learned a couple more things along the way, and I'll share them below.

Because sometimes what I start with, and what gets posted in the end, are two different creatures. Everywhere I have read about how simple "rope baskets" are to sew. Since I had already created the fabric portion a couple years ago through hand-sewing, I thought it would be easy to add the rope part on top on my machine. I thought I only needed an hour and my basket would be complete.