How to Make a Basket Liner for Any Size Basket

Want to add a touch of loveliness to a basket? Here’s how to make a cute basket liner with a ruffle.

Maybe you have a second hand basket or a fruit basket that needs to be lined, but it’s a little bit of an odd shape. This simple basket liner tutorial will walk you through how to make a basket liner for any basket size or shape. 

As an old fashioned homemaker, I love collecting baskets from thrift stores and using them to store and organize all kinds of things around my home. The tutorial that I used here is for a large basket that I picked up to use as a fruit basket. 

It was hard to find an easy tutorial on how to make basket liners for odd shaped baskets so I combined ideas from two videos that I found on youtube and came up with a simple way to make a basket liner for any size basket.

Materials:

• 1 Yard of Fabric
• Scissors
• Pins
• Measuring Tape
• Pencil
• Matching Thread
• Bobbin
• Sewing Machine

How to Make a Basket Liner

Pre-wash your Fabric. – Always wash your fabric before cutting it to make sure that it is pre-shrunk and won’t shrink on you. The basket liner may not fit right after a wash if you don’t wash it before you start the project.

Remove the basket handle. – I like the look of baskets without handles. It all came about because I accidentally broke one of my basket handles so I had to remove it. That’s when I realized that I prefer the look without the handles. To remove the handle, gently pull or break the pieces that attach the handle one by one until you can remove it. If you are looking for a tutorial for a basket liner that will fit around handles, there are plenty on youtube.

Trace and cut out the bottom piece. – Lay the fabric on a table and place the basket on top of it. I like to use the fabric close to a corner leaving enough room for about an inch all the way around.

Trace around the bottom of the basket about 1 inch from the basket. Remove the basket and cut along the line you made.

Measure and cut the main piece. Measure the height of the basket and add 2 ½ inches. I measured from the top of the rim to where the measuring tape touched the table. As you can see the height of this basket is about 6 ½ inches.

This measurement doesn’t have to be exact, but if you are unsure, then err on slightly too big rather than too small. Measure that amount along the edge of your extra fabric. Mark your fabric with that measurement all the way down to the other edge and cut.

You should get a long piece. Drape this around your basket to make sure it is long enough and trim off any excess leaving a 1 inch overlap for seam allowance.

As you can see, mine came a little short so I had to add a little bit more fabric.

Measure and cut the ruffle. Measure the length of the main piece. Multiply by 1 ½ to get the length of your ruffle. Cut a piece of fabric 3 inches by this length.

Sew and attach the Ruffle. Hem the bottom side of the ruffle. Set the stitch width to the highest setting and and sew all the way down the other side opposite the side you just hemmed. Gather the fabric by pulling gently on the bobbin thread. Usually the needle thread will not budge so that’s how I tell them apart. Gather it enough to match the length of the main piece. Pin it on to the main piece with the right sides together and sew. Don’t forget to reset the stitch width back. Finish the edge to keep it from fraying by making a felled seam. To do this, you will need to trim just the ruffle edge in half.

Fold the other edge over what you just trimmed and sew it down.

You can also do an interlocking seam by simply sewing another row of stitches as close to the edges of the ruffle and main piece as you can.

Either one of these stitches will help your basket liner not fray when it gets washed.

Sew the two ends of the main piece together. – Now that you have attached the ruffle, sew the two ends together to make a loop. The ruffle should be at the top and there should be an opening still at the bottom so that you can attach the bottom piece. Finish the edge with a felled or interlocking seam.

Attach the bottom piece. Pin the bottom piece to the main piece making sure it’s right sides together.

It will not fit exactly since the two pieces are two different sizes. Start by pinning it together with four pins opposite of each other. Line the edges between two of the pins together as best as possible, folding over the excess and pinning it down to make a pleat.

Continue aligning and pleating until the bottom piece matches the main piece. Sew them together and finish with an interlocking seam. This tutorial was made for a round basket but will work just as well with a square or rectangular basket. Just start with your pins at the four corners and add a pleat in between them to help it line up.

Fit the liner to the basket. Now it’s time to line your basket and enjoy the lovely touch that you have added to your home!

PIN IT!