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Chances are you have a basket already in your home that would be so much more useful if it were lined. I’ve had an unused basket like this one forever, and I’ve been thinking of lining it. Today I’m going to show you exactly how to make DIY Round Basket Liners.

Wicker and woven baskets look cute, but they are not nice to clothes. I adore the look of industrial and wire baskets like these I see in my local shops, but what the heck would you do with them without a liner??? Would someone please explain this to me?

[bctt tweet=”Wicker and woven baskets look cute, but they are not nice to clothes. I adore the look of industrial and wire baskets like these I see in my local shops, but what the heck would you do with them without a liner??? ” username=”DarlaDeMorrow”]

Anyway, back to my unlined basket. I was staging a house this week, and we, of course, replaced two mismatched plastic laundry bins in her laundry room with these two round baskets that she already had (similar ones here).

I recently read this awesome little tutorial on how to make a mini-basket out of old jeans. Yep. You read that right. (By the way, do NOT go searching Pinterest for “baskets from jeans”. You will lose an entire day, guaranteed.) Thanks to the jeans project, something clicked in my head, and suddenly, the geometry wasn’t a problem anymore. So I ran out to get…a very long oblong tablecloth.

Are you still with me? Yes, this is a post on DIY basket liners for round baskets. C’mon, admit it. You were thinking the same thing. Rectangular fabric. Round basket. Get out the slide-rule. Well, it turns out it is just 4 seams, and you can be a messy sewer like me. The seams are pretty well hidden, so you don’t have to sweat about being able to sew a straight line. You can easily line round baskets with fabric.

How to Sew DIY Round Basket Liners

Step 1: Measure Your Round Basket Height

Take all measurements from the outside of the basket because it will give you a bit of wiggle room and- most importantly- it’s just easier. Measure from the top of the basket down to the middle of the bottom of the basket, on the outside. Then add 3-4 inches to wrap over the top and create a top cuff. My length needed was 25″.

Step 2: Measure the Round Basket Diameter

Measure around the outside of your basket. Mine was 50″ around at the fattest part. Make sure to measure at the fattest part if your basket has a cone shape.

Step 3: Cut Fabric for your Round Basket Liner

Cut a piece of fabric to your measurements above. Does everyone use the planks on your hardwood floors for cutting guidelines, or is that just me?

Step 4: Fold and Pin Fabric for your Round Basket Liner

The next step I had to think about for a minute. You normally sew “right sides in, wrong sides out,” so your seams end up on the correct side. Since I want the “right side” to be on the inside, I’m still going to sew with the pretty part of the fabric on the inside. So fold the pretty side together, and pin a seam on the vertical, making a big fabric tube. (see pictures below)

Step 5: Sew the Long/Tall Edge of Your Round Basket Fabric

Remember, I’m a really lazy sewer, and I’m using a $15 tablecloth, with finished seams already. Use those to your advantage. Meredith Grey was keeping me company. Now that girl had better keep her stitches straight!

Step 6: Sew the Bottom Edge

Keep your fabric folded along the seam you just sewed, and now turn the fabric and sew one long seam along the bottom. So now I have a large square of fabric that is inside out and open on only one end.

Step 7: Fold the Bottom Edge to Create a Round-ish Bottom for the Round Basket Liner

This next step is where it gets just a little tricky. Open up the square, and fold it so the seam is in the middle, then fold it flat. (Gail describes this perfectly in her jeans post as matching up the seams of the leans legs. But since I’m a lazy sewer, I only have one side seam. Just position it so it’s now in the middle.) Here’s what it looks like.

Step 8: Sew the Round Basket Liner Bottom

Now mark about 5″ up from each point and sew a straight seam on either side. When you open it and test it in your basket, which of course you’ll want to do, you’ll see that it nicely approximates a roundish bottom. It’s not exactly round, but it will work in the bottom of your wicker basket.

Step 9: Mark and Cut Handle Openings To Create the Basket Liner Cuff

No doubt you have handles on your basket, so at this point, you’ll want to double-check your measurements. My basket height + half the bottom = 20″. That left me a 5″ cuff. Fold the fabric back with the side seam on the side again, and mark a line 5″ from the top of my fabric. The line should be as wide as your handles are. My handles are 7″ wide. I marked this in chalk so you could see, and then cut it with a rotary tool.

Step 10: Sew the Basket Handle Openings

I tried two different approaches for finishing the handle opening. One the first, I cut a little cross shape like you see marked above. But I found that didn’t work any better than my second approach. After just a single line cut, I pulled and pinned the fabric back into a little “eye” shape, and sewed a quick seam all the way around. It’s not fancy, but it will keep things from unraveling.

And here are the finished round baskets with fabric liners.

Now with these bright liners, these baskets could be used for anything. Laundry, toys, pet supplies, you name it. Honestly, it took me longer to write this post than to sew fabric liners for these round baskets. And it’s going to look great in the house that we’re helping to sell very soon. I’m pretty sure that the homeowner is going to want to take these to her next home.

These DIY round basket liners are a true beginner project. If you own a sewing machine and can thread a bobbin, you can do this project. What do you think?

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