Easter Basket Liner Tutorial

Are you ready for Easter? I am very grateful it is a little later this year, otherwise I definitely would not be.

 
Last week, I finally got around to lining our baskets.

Now I know basket liner tutorials have been done before {like this pretty ruffled one from Oopsey Daisy}, but I just thought I would share what I did with you.

It doesn't take much fabric. It just takes a bit of math and maybe an hour or less.

You need:

about 1/3 a yard of cotton fabric, depending on how large your basket is
measuring tape
rotary cutter, ruler and mat {optional but very nice to have}
sewing machine


safety pin

STEP ONE: Size up your basket and cut your fabric.

Get the diameter of the bottom... {as you can see this one had some hot glue stuck to the bottom...I got it from the thrift store...so it REALLY needs a liner}

the top - not including the basket rim,

the height of the basket

and the width of the rim.

Take all those measurements and bust out your calculator.

You want to take your diameter measurements and plug them into this equation:

diameter x pi = circumference

Take those two circumference measurements, add 1/2 inch for seam allowance {1/4 in. on both ends} and cut a trapezoid piece.

Edited to add...Thanks to my sweet reader Connie,  I realized I am showing this measurement incorrectly. You want to take HALF of the circumferences and use them for the top and bottom lengths of your trapezoid. The height should stay the same.  Sorry for the confusion.

For the height you want to take the height of the basket, add the width of the rim and then add about 3 inches.

For example. My basket was 4 inches tall and 1 inch in rim width.

4 in. + 1 in. + 3 in. = 8 inches

Cut two identical trapezoids. 

Now cut a circle using the bottom diameter measurement. I went hunting through my kitchen bowls, pans, and lids to find the closest size I could. I then traced it on my fabric and cut it.

One last cut...cut 1 1/2 inch strips for the ties. I am sorry, I forgot to measure but I had to piece them together because they were too short anyway. I think my finished ties were about 48 inches {2 feet} long. You need two ties.

STEP TWO: Sew pieces together. 

First, sew the trapezoids together short end to short end. But only sew up a few inches. I sewed about 3 inches and ended up picking out half of an inch off of that.

 Then pin the shorter side of the trapezoid pieces to the circle and sew all the way around.

 Sew the raw edges of the unsewn sides of the trapezoid under. 

 underside view

top side. You see how I back-stitched over the beginning of the split to reinforce it and make it sturdy?

Now fold the long end about an inch {I did 3/4 inch} and sew under to make a casing for the ties.

Make your ties. Fold in half, sew and turn inside out with a safety pin.

As I mentioned earlier...I had to piece mine together. I joined it like you would with quilt binding and bias tape.

Now knot the ends.

Use that safety pin to thread them through the casings.

 And fit it on your basket.

 Ah...lovely.

Add your Easter grass and plastic eggs.

And you are done!

Your baskets are all dressed up and ready for Easter egg hunting.

I made a yellow one for this basket. Then I repainted the basket {because it needed it} but I made it a very...hmmm...unique color. I'll have to show you soon. I still don't know how I feel about it.

Yay... I am one step closer to being ready for Easter. Now I just need to finish collecting little basket fillers.

I hope you have a bright, beautiful day!