How to Make a Laundry Basket Liner

Make a laundry basket liner for your college bound teen or as a way to keep your own laundry basket clean and fresh. A laundry basket liner works like a bag that can be removed and the clothes can be transported to the laundry mat or to mom and dad's for the weekend. Once the clothes have been washed, you can wash the liner and repack the folded clothes to take home. The liner is then fresh and clean to be reinserted in the laundry basket to use again. These simple instructions are for a tall round wicker laundry basket.

Things You'll Need

• Tall round wicker laundry basket
• Denim or heavy-duty fabric, amount is determined by the size of the laundry basket
• Fabric for the basket liner's lining
• Pen
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Hand sewing needle and thread
• Five grommets and grommet tool
• Hammer
• 1/4 inch diameter cording

Instructions

1. Place your heavy-duty fabric wrong side up on your work surface. Place the basket on your fabric. If the top the your laundry basket is larger than the bottom of your laundry basket, turn the basket upside down and place on your fabric. Draw around the basket using a pen and adding a 1/2 inch. Cut the circle out and set aside. Using your measuring tape measure the circumference around the opening of the laundry basket. Add 1 inch to the circumference total. This will be the width of your laundry basket liner. Measure the height of the basket and add 6 inches to this total. This will be the length for your laundry basket liner. Cut one piece of the heavy-duty fabric using the circumference for the width by the length of the basket. Use these two fabric pieces as patterns to cut the fabric for the lining of the basket liner bag.

2. Fold the width of the laundry basket liner over, matching the short ends, with the right sides together and pin. Sew a 1/2-inch seam along the pinned edge. Matching the right sides, pin the circle to the opening of one end of the laundry basket liner tube. Sew the circle to the tube using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Repeat for the fabric of the bags lining leaving a 4 inch opening on the side seam for turning. Turn the heavy-duty fabric laundry basket liner right side out and place inside the lining bag. Match the top edges and pin. Sew around the pinned edges using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Turn the laundry basket liner right side out through the opening in the lining bag. Hand stitch the opening closed. Iron the bag.

3. Measure and top stitch 1 inch below the top of the bag. Measure and space five marks along the 1 inch edge of the laundry basket liner for the grommets. Cut a slit at each mark through all layers. Place the male grommet half through a slit on the outside of the bag and protruding on the inside. Place the female grommet half over the shaft on the back. On a flat surface, place the grommet tool into the back of the grommet. Pound the grommet tool using a hammer to connect the grommet halves together. Repeat for the remaining slits and grommets.

4. Cut a length of cording 1 1/2 times larger than the circumference of the laundry basket. Thread the cording up through one grommet and down through another all the way around the laundry basket liner and ending by inserting in the beginning grommet. Hold the ends of the cording together and tie an overhand knot an inch from the ends. Place the laundry basket liner inside the wicker laundry basket and fold the excess at the top of the liner over the edge of the laundry basket.