Sew your own basket liner
Wicker baskets are a perfect way to add a homemade feel to your rooms, and what could be better than to line it with a homemade fabric liner. In this quick and easy tutorial, I explain to you how to measure and sew your own unique basket liner. It will make the perfect addition to any room no matter what its purpose will be.
Last year we moved to Ireland, so we donated most of our possessions and among those things were our laundry baskets. Regrettably, laundry is a fact of life, so we do need somewhere to keep our dirty laundry, for a while, my daughters used a shopping bag for that purpose. But when I came across this wicker basket in my local charity shop, I knew it would be perfect for the girls. So, I brought it home and started on my plans to make a liner for this basket, this liner would protect their clothes from snagging on the twigs. In case you want to make your own basket liner, I have written down the instructions. Because I liked the look of my basket more without the handles on the top I cut them off. After all, when you make something yourself you can change it however you want.
Step 1 measuring your basket:
Now the chance of your basket being the exact same size as mine is pretty slim, so you will want to start off with measuring your basket.
You start measuring on the bottom of the inside of your basket, pulling your measuring tape upwards and over the edge until you are happy with the length. I feel that roughly 10 cm overhang on the outside for a basket my size looks best. Add 2 to 5 cm to this length for your hem and seams, the length depends on how big of a seam you prefer to sew and how big you like your hem.
Then you will want to measure on the outside of the top of the basket. Depending on the seam you want to sew, you can add anywhere from 1 cm to 4 cm. Since I went for a French seam, I added an extra 4 cm to the length of my fabric. Since my top was a bit wider than my bottom, I also measure the inside of my basket. This so that I would know later how much to decrease the bottom of my fabric.
Tip: write down your measurements on a bit of paper in case you might forget your measurements.
Step 2 mark and cut fabric:
It is always best to iron your fabric before marking and cutting, this will result in truer measurements. But I won’t judge if you don’t do this, since truth be told, I try and get away with not ironing as often as I can.
If you are sure that your measurements are correct and you added your seam allowance, then you can go ahead and mark out your fabric and cut it out.
Step 3 pin fabric together, then sew:
For the main piece, you pin the short sides together. If you want to sew a French seam, you want to sew the wrong sides together, then cut half off of one side and then fold the other side over this short side. Then pin it to the fabric and sew in place.
On one of the long sides, you can pin the hem together. To do this, you can fold the edge over for approx. ½ cm, then fold it over again for approx. 2 cm. Then pin to fabric and sew along the inside edge of the hem, where there are three layers of fabric.
Lastly, pin the bottom square to the other side of your main piece. If the diameter of your bottom square is smaller than that of the main piece, then take care to distribute the fabric evenly over the 4 corners. The excess fabric can then be sown into darts at the points of the bottom square.
Step 4 finishing your basket liner:
Make sure that you have finished all of your raw edges, all your threads are trimmed and that the stitching is strong and neat.
Fit it onto your basket and find a place in your house where it is useful and flattering to the rest of your decor. Let me know in the comments what you use your lined basket for.
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