Easy Fabric Planter DIY

Who else is always bringing new plants home and later realizing they didn’t pick up a cute planter to place it in? It’s a thing. I decided it was time to repurpose some canvas from my fabric stash and make a few coiled planters to add even more color and texture to our space. It’s been a great way to make sure not all 34 plants I own are plopped into white planters, too! I was able to make a trio of fabric planters that fit over the containers of three of my favorite plants and made sure to use colors that would work well by themselves or as a group to give me more styling options. Or in case I kill one of them. It’s a thing.

We’ve teamed up with Fiskars to celebrate their Orange Handled Scissors’ 50th anniversary and to share how their scissors help you easily cut through all kinds of fabric, even a few layers at a time! As a lady with a large collection of pretty scissors that aren’t always functional, I truly appreciate how these Fiskars scissors stay sharp and cut all the way to the end of the blade. No more thumb blisters for me! Keep scrolling to find out how to make your own fabric planters and sort of justify all of those trips to the plant store. Ha!

Supplies
– two yards of cotton canvas fabric for the coils (large basket)
– one yard of gauzy cotton fabric to wrap coils (large basket) or 20 yards of cotton yarn
– plastic tapestry needle
– Fiskars Orange-handled Scissors

This is a smaller scale sample of how to cut your fabric. In order to get a rope-like effect from a yard of fabric, you’ll want to make cuts from one long side almost all the way through with cuts about 3″ apart. Then cut in from the opposite long side in between so that you cut almost all the way up. Once you pull this apart, it’ll expand into a fabric rope with awkward angles. When you twist it, those angles will get twisted in and disappear.

After you’ve cut all of your fabric, wrap it into a loose coil to keep it from getting tangled up. Then twist up your canvas fabric for about 3 feet.

Step One: Cut 3 ft of gauzy cotton and tie it around the end of three strips of canvas cotton (make one longer than the others by 1 ft).

Step Two: Place the tail end of the knotted cotton onto the canvas cotton and wrap around both with the long end to cover it up.

Step Three: Fold your wrapped end in like you’re making a circle and use the gauzy cotton to wrap around where they meet one time.

Step Four: Wrap two more times around the canvas cotton and then thread your gauzy cotton with your needle. Stitch through the center of your coil and pull tight.

Step Five: Continue wrapping twice around the canvas cotton only and then stitch around both the outer layer of canvas cotton and the one underneath it. Keep twisting your cotton canvas as you go. This gives it shape as well as strength.

Step Six: When you run out of gauzy cotton, tie a new 3 ft. strip to the end and tie a knot. Open up the canvas cotton and place the tail ends of your gauzy cotton inside.

Step Seven: Twist the canvas cotton up again to help hide the tail ends and then keep wrapping and stitching.

Step Eight: Once your diameter is wide enough for your liking, start stitching your next layer of canvas cotton directly above your last one to build up the sides of your planter. You’ll continue wrapping twice around one layer of canvas cotton and then once around two layers of canvas cotton.

Step Nine: Whenever you’re about to run out of canvas cotton, cut another two strips and place them near the ends of the canvas cotton that is running out.

Step Ten: Use the longer piece of canvas cotton to keep wrapping around that section to help hide the ending and beginning.

Step Eleven: Continue coiling, wrapping, and stitching until your pot is as high as you’d like. Hide the tail end of your canvas cotton by wrapping around it 4-5 times with your gauzy cotton and then stitching through all five of those. Pull through, cut off the end of your gauzy cotton, and tuck back under.

You can see how using only one thick strand of fabric in your coil will give you a completely different look than twisting up four strands of wider fabric. I made another thinly coiled planter below for a smaller plant and then made my third one with thicker coils. I finished it much quicker but still love having a variety of thin, medium, and thick coils in this trio.

If you’re not a plant lady and don’t share in the burden of always needing another cute pot, you can use these for cute baskets in any room of your house. Place a few on a side table to stash remotes and charging cords or make a large one to gather items that need to be put away as you pick up around the house. Three cheers for pretty baskets that you made yourself! – Rachel

Credits//Author: Rachel Denbow. Photography: Rachel Denbow and Janae Hardy. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

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