DIY Fabric Basket Liner Sewing Tutorial

Here’s how to make an easy diy basket liner with fabric. It can be such a cute seasonal project! Make your own pretty basket liners with this simple fabric basket liner sewing tutorial.

Now that you know what we’re going to make, let’s get to the fun part: looking at pictures of how to make your own cute basket liners.

Because baskets come in all different shapes and sizes, it would be impossible to have one sewing pattern that would cover all bases. You’ll make your own sewing pattern depending on the style and dimensions of your basket.

Custom Basket Liner Styles

One of the benefits of sewing a DIY basket liner is that you can make it fit the baskets you already have. You’ll vary the style of your basket liner to custom fit your unique baskets! Here are a few common varieties of baskets to consider lining.

To start, let’s look at a few basket liner varieties you’ll find:

Square or rectangle baskets with straight sides and no handles – by far, the easiest basket to make a liner for!
Flaired rectangle basket liner – Baskets that are wider at the top, with or without handles, because they flair out at the top, your basket liner pattern will include a couple extra measurements.
Oval or round baskets, with straight sides, with or without handles – the straight sides make this basket-liner pattern fairly straightforward (no pun intended). If there’s a handle, like with a traditional Easter basket, you’ll just leave an opening and add some ties to your liner design.
Wire basket liners that need to look pretty on both sides – you’ll need two layers of fabric for this but don’t worry, because this is still a very approachable sewing project.

Does one of these resemble a basket you have in your home? Good! Pick one and let’s get started making our own diy fabric basket liners. Yayyyyyy! Pretty fun!

How to Make Your Own Fabric Basket Liners

The general steps are the same for basically all basket liner diy tutorials:

Measure the basket
Make your pattern (or cut list)
Cut your fabric
Sew the liner

Often, you’ll make some tweaks and adjustments at the end to fit your basket liner perfectly. This basket liner project can be easy and fun (really) with just a few simple steps.

Materials Needed for DIY Basket Liners

You only need basic sewing supplies to make these! Here are the materials you’ll need to do the basket liner sewing project.

Fabric – the size varies depending on the size of the basket you want to line
thread to match or complement your fabric
scissors
pencil or pen
tape measure
notebook or paper to make notes on and sketch out your diagram
sewing machine (or hand sewing needle, if you prefer sewing by hand)
optional: pretty ribbon or trim

Instructions to make a simple rectangle basket liner

Simple Rectangle Basket Liner Tutorial

No matter what kind of basket you’re making, the general instructions are about the same.

First step is to measure your basket.
Second, use those measurements to determine what sizes and pieces of fabric you need to cut.
Make your cut list.
Cut out your pieces of fabric for the bottom and sides of the basket.
Sew the sides to the bottom and to each other.
Lastly, give the top of your basket liner a neat hem and voila! You’ve finished.

Here is the simplest example, which is for a rectangle basket with no handles and with basically straight sides:

For a rectangle basket liner, you’ll have five pieces of fabric : one bottom, two long side pieces, and two short side pieces. It’s easier to show it, so see the photos below for everything to (hopefully) click!

Step One: Measure your basket

Measure the length and width of the sides and bottom inside the basket
Measure the height of each side (all four sides will be about the same height on this type of basket)

Step Two: Draw up your plans

This planning stage makes your project a success. Here is a close-up of my little diagrams. These sketches help me figure out what size fabric pieces I need. As you can see, they don’t have to be fancy!

For the bottom and for the width of each side piece, I added .5″ seam allowance on each side.

Then for the sides, I add one inch for a double-fold hem and two inches for an overhang to the height.

Step three: Make your cut list

After sketching out my pieces and doing the math above, I make a list of the pieces I need to cut from my chosen fabric. In this rectangle basket liner, which will have straight sides and no handles, I only need to cut these five pieces:

Bottom (cut 1 piece): 11.5″ x 7″
Short sides (cut 2 of these): 7″ x 7″
Long sides (cut 2 of these): 11.5″ x 7″

Step four: Cut your fabric pieces

As you can see, these are the pieces I have in my cut list above: one bottom piece, two short sides, and two long sides.

Step five: Sew your basket liner

Sew sides to the bottom piece:

For this rectangle basket liner, I chose to start by sewing each side to the bottom piece of fabric first.

Again, sew right sides together.

Leave room for the half-inch seam allowances. In other words, don’t sew the first half-inch on each end. This way, you’ll have room to sew the sides to each other in the next step.

Sew side pieces to each other:

Now, because you left a half-inch unsewn in the last step, you can sew the side pieces together.

Sewing the side seams last is very forgiving. You can fit the liner inside the basket several times before you finish sewing to ensure everything fits. If the liner seems a little tight when you fold it over the sides, adjust your seam allowance as necessary.

An alternative method: Another really simple way to get your basket liner sewn together quickly is to sew the sides together, then fit in the bottom piece and sew it all around. Make sure the right side of the fabric is on the inside of your basket liner, and the seams are on the outside.

Step six: Hem the top

Fold over a half-inch at the top of the fabric, then fold it over again to make the hem. Stitch evenly all the way around your basket liner.

Enjoy your new custom-lined basket!

Here is another basket liner – in a different size but still for a simple rectangle basket. This one is sewn in the exact same way as the one above.

If your rectangle basket has handles you need to work around, there are a few extra steps. And if your basket is round, you’ll need to adjust the instructions above just slightly. The basic steps are the same, but it’s easier to follow along if the instructions are written specifically for a round basket liner.

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Oval Wire Basket Liner

White wicker basket with handles with pretty fabric liner for spring

Flaired Rectangle Basket Liner (with Handles)