Before and after: dollar store basket

I love the dollar store.

Case in point: I needed a basket. I wasn’t really inclined to purchase an expensive basket from the store, nor did I like any of the options at my local Dollar Tree.

Fortunately, I had some extra fabric (Mocca by Alexander Henry) and a sewing machine at home. I fixed it! Here’s how.

Materials:

• Basket (mine was 7″ x 5″ x 4″)
• Fabric (amount needed varies depending on the size of your basket, but I needed about as much as one of those quilting fabric quarters they sell at Joann’s (18″ x 22″))
• Sewing machine
• Needle and thread
• Pencil or chalk
• Razor
• Ribbon/bias tape (optional)

Step 1: Use a razor blade to cut the vinyl material at the top and side corners of the basket. You should end up with a cross-shaped template. Be very careful when you do this. This is going to be the template for the fabric cover you’re sewing, so get as close to the edges as possible.

Step 2: Pin the template to the reverse side of your fabric. Trim your fabric so that it forms a square around the template with about an extra inch on each side. (Obviously I was cutting it close since I was using a fabric scrap!)

Step 3: Trace around the template with chalk or a pencil.

Step 4: Cut a diagonal line from the edge of the fabric to the inner corner of your template. Don’t cut along the line you traced in step 3. You should now have a square piece of fabric with a cut in each corner and a rectangle (the size of your basket base) in the middle of the fabric.

Step 5: By now you should be able to see how the pieces will fit back together. Fold the fabric along one of the cut corners (the wrong side of the fabric should be facing out) and sew along the diagonal lines you traced in Step 3. Do this for each corner (4 times). I’m sorry that I didn’t get a great picture of this!

Step 6: Trim the fabric from the inner corners. Turn the fabric right side out. You should now have a basket-esque nest that your basket skeleton can sit inside.

Step 7: Turn in each of the top edges 1/2 inch and iron flat. Stick the wire template into the fabric nest.

Step 8: Turn in the top edges by another half inch, pin, and sew along each edge by hand. This takes a little while and you have to pull tightly to ensure a good fit, but it’s a perfect activity to do while watching Pretty Woman (again)!

edge finishing in progress

Step 9: (Optional): Trim the inner (or outer, if you want) edge with ribbon or bias tape.

Total cost: $1. The only thing I bought was the basket. Everything else I had around the house.

Definitely not perfect, but an upgrade! I’ve never done this before at all, so excuse my stray threads and choppy corners. In retrospect I should have made something with a liner. Next time.

In case you don’t have a basket where you can cut out a template, try the following:

Tagged as: apartment, making things