The Pixie Cup Tutorial

By popular request, I'm sharing the Pixie Cup Tutorial with you today! These are similar enough to my Pixie Basket tutorial that I thought they ought to share the name, but there are definitely differences.

Keep in mind that when you're working with curves, things are always a little trickier. Go slowly while you're sewing a side piece to a circle piece and don't let it worry you. Here's a great tutorial for this type of sewing, even with ideas for getting the math right if you want to make your circle larger. Honestly, I didn't really do anything fancy while sewing those curves on my cups -- no pins, no clipping, no trimming the seam -- and everyone lived happily ever after. But if you feel better taking these steps, then by all means, do it!

You'll notice from this picture inside the cup that everything doesn't lie perfectly flat. Wrinkles are normal, especially when you're using linen. The inside opening can either be sealed up by machine or hand stitching. I tried it both ways and found that, as usual, machine stitching is faster while hand stitching is neater. Go with what you prefer. Since you're going to fill this cup with something useful or pretty, odds are pretty good that no one's ever going to see that seam anyway.

I've included dimensions for both sizes of basket: short and tall. The patchwork can be whatever you want as long as it fits in the exterior panel rectangle. I give you one patchwork square size option for each version just to get you started. It's also perfectly fine to just use a single piece of fabric instead.

Please do share pictures of your finished cups on social media -- I always love to see your projects! You can tag these #pixiecup (remember -- different from the #pixiebasket!) and be sure to tag me @fabricmutt. Since I've been getting a lot of questions from people about using these projects for classes, retreats, and pop-up shops, I've also added a Frequently Asked Questions section to my tutorials page where you can find all the answers.

Okay, let's sew!

Materials & Cutting

Tall Version
1 rectangle 4 1/2 x 13" of fabric for exterior panel (patchwork option: 8 rectangles 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" each)
1 rectangle 4 1/2 x 13" of batting for exterior interfacing
1 rectangle 4 1/2 x 13" of linen for lining
1 rectangle 4 1/2 x 13" of fusible interfacing (I use Pellon Craft Fuse) for lining interfacing
2 circles 4" diameter of linen for exterior and lining base pieces
1 circle 4" diameter of batting for exterior base interfacing
1 circle 4" diameter of fusible interfacing (I use Pellon Craft Fuse) for lining base interfacing
2 strips 1/2 x 3" of leather for handles (other options: twill tape, double fold bias tape)

Short Version
1 rectangle 2 1/2 x 13" of fabric for exterior panel (patchwork option: 8 rectangles 2 x 2 1/2" each -- you'll sew the 2 1/2" sides together)
1 rectangle 2 1/2 x 13" of batting for exterior interfacing
1 rectangle 2 1/2 x 13" of linen for lining
1 rectangle 2 1/2 x 13" of fusible interfacing (I use Pellon Craft Fuse) for lining interfacing
2 circles 4" diameter of linen for exterior and lining base pieces
1 circle 4" diameter of batting for exterior base interfacing
1 circle 4" diameter of fusible interfacing (I use Pellon Craft Fuse) for lining base interfacing
2 strips 1/2 x 3" of leather for handles (other options: twill tape, double fold bias tape)

Other Supplies
Adhesive basting spray
Thread & needle (if hand sewing the opening closed)
Chopstick or knitting needle
Binding clips

Note: all seams are 1/4" unless otherwise stated.

Instructions

1. Sew together any patchwork pieces. Use adhesive basting spray to fuse the wrong side of your exterior panel piece to the batting rectangle and trim down to the size of the exterior panel (depending on which version you're making). Quilt as desired.

2. Fold the leather pieces in half, wrong sides together, and stitch 1/8" from the raw edges. Line up the raw edges on the top edge, about 3 1/2 inches from each side edge of the rectangle (see above).

Baste in place.

3. Use adhesive basting spray to fuse the wrong side (if there is one) of one linen circle to the batting circle -- or to a 4 1/2" square that you will later cut down into a circle. Quilt as desired.

4. Place the exterior rectangle on top of the exterior base, right sides together, lining up the bottom edge of the rectangle on the side of the circle. Starting 1-2" from the short end of the rectangle, carefully sew the lower edge of the rectangle to the outside edge of the base, stopping about 1-2" before the other short end of the rectangle.

5. Match up the two short ends of the rectangle, right sides together, and sew them together. Then carefully finish sewing the rectangle piece to the circular base. Turn the exterior piece right side out and set aside.

6. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to fuse the wrong sides of the lining rectangle and lining base to the coordinating interfacing pieces. Repeat what you did in steps 4 and 5, using the lining pieces, but this time, do not finish sewing the rectangle piece to the circular base. Leave a gap of 2-4" for turning and leave the piece inside out.

7. Place the exterior inside the lining, right sides together, and clip them together along the top.

Carefully sew all the way around the top opening.

8. Reach in through the hole in the lining and pull out the exterior of the cup, pressing carefully with your iron. Push out the all the edges of the exterior by gently poking a knitting needle or chopstick through the hole in the lining. Stitch the opening in the lining closed either by machine or by hand. This is probably the trickiest spot for sewing around curves, so here I did find it helpful to use binding clips to hold the edges together, removing them one by one as I stitched it up.

9. Push the lining down into the cup and topstitch all the way around the opening.

Fill with goodies and enjoy!