Sea and Sand Basket

The gift basket has reached that awkward stage. With that sliver of yellow at the base, I decided handles in the same fabric would balance things out nicely and make the basket more interesting. I'd passed up these knotted handles many times in the past as I paged through my book, thinking them quite ugly. So why when I looked for handles, did I turn my back on the suggested ones and suddenly fall in love with these?

And I do love the way they look on the basket. But here's the awkward part. They are to be glued and hand tacked in place, not an easy task when their placement is so near the base. And beads were suggested over the spiral once it was glued on. The heck with that order, I thought.

I dipped into my button collection and found these older ones that I think are mother of pearl - fitting for a sea-themed basket. (The photo doesn't capture the rainbow of color as light reflects off them.) Then in my bead collection I found two turquoise chips with holes, just big enough that when added over the indentation in the buttons pierced by holes, filled that space. It was hard enough getting my thin needle through one layer of fabric-covered clothesline held in my hand. I can't imagine how impossibly difficult it would have been going from the inside of the basket through two layers of clothesline. I'm very pleased with this touch.

I tried E6000 as recommended to glue the spiral ends to the outside and was quite frustrated with the fact that the glue did not hold right away. No way to clamp so far down the side of the bowl either, and I wasn't about to sit there holding things in place for very long. I eventually stuck pins in which held the spirals against the sides while they set overnight. The hold appears pretty firm now but I'm still supposed to put in a few hand stitches. I may just tell the new owner these are decorative and do not load up the basket and lift by those handles! Now I have to do the same gluing process with the other end of the handles to the inside of the basket. I'm not sure why the directions say to make loops on these ends unless they may provide some additional stability once glued and stitched. I'm going back to my favorite fabric glue that I've had such good luck with over the years - Beacon's Fabri-tac Permanent Adhesive. As for tacking with thread, this will be even more awkward than working on the outside. I'm wondering if a curved needle will help, even though anytime I've used one, I've found them awkward all by themselves. I guess I'm open to suggestions.