I’m mom to a very busy little boy who just loves playing. ALL. THE. TIME. One of his favorite things to do at the moment is to throw a ball or stacking cup and chase after it. He’s got a bag full of balls so I find them all over the house, sometimes in the strangest places!
Several times his toys have gone through the laundry because they were hidden in the washing basket. I’ve found one hidden in the cutlery drawer, in the dustbin or behind our piano. It’s like a treasure hunt and you didn’t know you were hunting for treasure.
For those of you who are moms to toddlers, you will sympathize with the constant battle that rages between keeping your child occupied (while he lobs toys across the living room) and keeping the house tidy. Some days I win and the house is not in a total shambles, and other days I lose. Badly.
One of the things that has really helped is to have easy access to toy baskets. At the end of the day, or just before guests arrive, I can grab all the toys littered about the house and pop them into a basket. Not only are they useful for packing things away, the baskets themselves are also great fun for toddlers, taking things out and putting them back in again.
I had some t-shirt yarn that I was very keen to try so I decided to work on a crochet toy basket pattern. My boy’s room is light blue and grey, with a bit of a woodland theme to it (you can read about some of the other goodies I’ve accesorised his room with here), so the blue, white and grey for this crochet toy basket pattern worked perfectly.
T-shirt yarn is great for crochet toy baskets. It’s soft so baby can’t hurt themselves on it, but it’s also robust and stands up to a busy toddler. What I love the most is that when it gets dirty, I can simply pop it into the laundry and wash it like I would a regular t-shirt, and it looks just like new. No more grubby hand prints!
This t-shirt yarn crochet basket pattern is very versatile. Simply adjust it to the size of basket that you want. Make sure to have a look through my tips for crocheting with t-shirt yarn before you start so that your project turns out perfectly!
>> PIN THIS PROJECT FOR LATER <<
WHAT YOU NEED:
9mm crochet hook (or smaller/larger depending on the thickness of your yarn)
T-shirt yarn in contrasting colors (mine was 1″ thick)
Jumbo stitch marker (optional)
NOTES BEFORE YOU START:
Make sure you are familiar with the crochet abbreviations for this pattern
Check out my tips for crocheting with t-shirt yarn
Learn how to do a simple color change in crochet
CROCHET TOY BASKET PATTERN:
Begin with ch 3, sl st to form a ring
R1. sc 7 into the ch 3
R2. 2 sc in each st (14)
R3. [sc in next st, 2sc in next st] around (21)
R4. [2sc in next st, sc in next st, sc in next st] around (28)
R5. [sc in next 3 sts, 2sc in next st] around (35)
R6. [sc in next 4 sts, 2sc in next st] around (42)
R7. [sc in next 5 sts, 2sc in next st] around (49)
R8. sc around in bl only (49)
R9 – 16. sc around, changing colors as you wish. I started with navy and changed to grey after 9 rounds. I continued to work R10 – 15 in grey and the remainder of the pattern in white.
R17. sc 22, ch 9 (to form a handle – you can leave this out if you don’t want handles), sk 3 sts and continue to sc in the next 21 st, sk 3, ch 9 to form the second handle.
R18. Continue to sc around. When you reach the handles, sc 9 st over the ch 9 (you may have to adjust this if your t-shirt yarn is thicker or thinner than the yarn I used. Simply sc over the ch with as many stitches as required to fill in the handle nicely).
Tip: I like to continue working another ¼ to ½ round until I hit the handle again before I bind off. T-shirt yarn is so chunky and it is easier to hide your bind off site if it is at the base of the handle rather than in the middle of the round.
Ok, so now that you have made your crochet toy basket, I have a small confession…. While I made it for my son’s room, I’ve kinda claimed it for myself to hold the yarn of my current project. Much nicer than the plastic packet my yarn was in previously! I’ll have to get going and make him another one.
Yours in craft,
Caitie
x
MORE FREE CROCHET PATTERNS
Thank you for your Basket pattern. I enjoy trying different patterns and yarns.
I cannot afford to buy the T-shirt yarn, can regular yarn be used? And, how many strands would I need with the regular yarn? Can you help meet?
You can use regular yarn, either held single or double (or even triple or more!), but your basket will be smaller and may be less sturdy (this will depend on the yarn). You can also make t-shirt yarn by cutting strips of old t-shirts and stitching it together!
Thank you for a great pattern – just one question, after the blo SC row, is the rest of the sc also blo? Or normal? Thanks in advance!
After the blo-sc round, you revert back to working through both loops. Happy stitching!
Hi there! I know this is an old post but I’m new to crochet and I just made this to just have a go at trying to make a basket that had easy to understand instructions! I’m new to crochet but I’m impatient and I loved how easy this was to follow, no crazy increases or decreases and just continuous rounds! I made today while my 7 year old and I watched movies on a rainy Saturday and I am so excited for the finished product. I had lion brand wool easy thick and quick in the fisherman’s cream color about 1/2 skein and finished with almost entire skein of joannes fabrics big twist yarn because I figured it was the same bulky number 6 as my other and I wasn’t getting off the couch so I went with it! I will say that when it’s finished it’s floppy with the second type of yarn and I think if I would have used the lion brand throughout it would stand more upright as I’ve made a small basket with it and it does BUT it holds so much yarn! I have instant cute storage dirt all my yarn instead of a bunch of grocery bags sitting on the couch! Anyway I just wanted to say thank you so much for this pattern and your style of teaching is perfect for people like me that want to try something new but give up if the pattern reads like a crazy word puzzle!
Have fun!!
Jill
Thank you so much for this wonderful feedback! And I’m so glad you enjoyed this project. There is so much variability in different yarns (not just the thickness) that can really make a difference to the finished project. I initially made my basket to store kiddy toys, but I’ve since claimed it for yarn storage, and I probably need to make few more. Happy stitching!
Hi, I just finished this basket and it was my first time working with t-shirt yarn and I must say Iam happy with the outcome.
Thank you for this easy project with clear instructions.
Vanaja
Hi Caitie, This my first time crocheting a basket, at about row 5 my rows started to ruffle, I’ve completed the BL only row and honestly right now on row 9 it is shaping into a Pirates hat lol, this is my second attempt and both times this has happened, can you tell me where I went wrong, I am using a jersey like material, which came in a bag of Mill ends, it is about 1/4 inch around and looks like a really stretchy shoe string,and I am using a 10 mm hook, I don’t know how this material compares to t-shirt material, maybe it’s much thicker than the t-shirt. Thank-You in advance for any help you can give me.
Hi Colleen, thank you for reaching out. It does take several rounds after the BLO row to straighten out, so perhaps try a few more rounds before you throw in the towel? It does tend to flare out a bit before straightening out. If the basket continues to ruffle, even after you have worked a few more rows, then it could be several things:
1) Make sure you are doing a US single crochet and not a UK one
2) If you pull your yarn too tightly (particularly if it has natural stretch to it) then it will buckle
If none of that helps, then feel free to email me with a picture so that I can what’s going on!
I don’t understand how this doesn’t come out flat. What rows make up the flat bottom part? How do,the sides stand up?
Photos or a video tutorial would be great!
Thx!
Hi Lyn, I won’t be doing a video tutorial at this time unfortunately,
the back loop sc are the “magic” stitches which separate the bottom from the sides. It takes a few rounds for it to start curving, but it does work, I promise!
Hello, I am just checking because I’m a relatively new crocheter, do you join the ends of each round or do you just go straight into the next round? Thank you.
Hi Michelle,
This pattern is worked in continuous rounds, so you don’t need to join each round (unless specifically instructed to do so). Hope that helps!
What are the dimensions of the final product.
The finished size will vary quite a lot depending on the t-shirt yarn that you use as well as your tension and hook size. Using the exact materials that I used, the completed size is 20cm diameter x 15cm tall
I know you posted this over a year ago but I just found you blog. I am trying to get material for making one of these baskets and you didn’t list what yardage was needed in the yarn
Hi Kerri, yardage is a tricky one with t-shirt yarn as it depends on the t-shirt yarn that you have available (the thickness plays quite a role), the size hook that you use and your unique tension. The yarn that I used had no label, but I used 3 cakes… I’m sorry that isn’t very helpful! What I can say is that you use quite a bit more t-shirt yarn than you would regular yarn. Where are you based? I may be able to point you in the direction of some yarn that you could use.
This is adorable….and I love that it can use up leftover yarn…….
Ooh, what a great project!