How to Make Basket Garters

Spruce up a plain basket for gift giving, or as an organizer basket on your counter, with fabric basket garters. Basket garters resemble a ruffled skirt that is placed around the body of the basket. Use scrap fabric or fabric left over from previous decorating projects to match the room the basket will be placed in. Make extra basket garters using a variety of holiday novelty fabrics and change them out for each occasion.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Fabric
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Iron
• 1/4-inch-wide elastic
• Safety pin

Instructions

1. Measure around the circumference of your basket rim using a measuring tape. Double this measurement for the new circumference measurement. Measure the height of the basket, add a half inch and double the total.

2. Cut a strip of fabric as long as the circumference measurement and as wide as the height measurement.

3. Fold the strip in half with the right sides facing and the long edges matching. Pin the long edges together. Sew the pinned edge using a quarter-inch seam allowance. The seam forms a tube.

4. Turn the tube right side out. Press the tube flat with the seam along one edge.

5. Measure a quarter inch down from the long seam edge, and mark it with straight pins. Top stitch along the length at the marked pins. This forms the top ruffle of the garter.

6. Measure down a half an inch from the stitched line, and mark it with pins. Top stitch along the length at the marked pins. The space between the stitched lines is the elastic casing.

7. Measure the circumference of the basket rim. Do not double the measurement. Using this measurement, cut a length of quarter-inch-wide elastic.

8. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic. Using the safety pin as a guide, thread the pin through one end of the casing and out the other end. Remove the safety pin. Pin the ends of the elastic to each opening of the casing to prevent it from slipping inside. The elastic will gather the fabric strip into a skirt.

9. Fold the fabric strip in half, matching the two short ends. At this point, there is no right or wrong side. Pin the short ends together. Sew the pinned ends using a half-inch seam allowance. The outside is now the wrong side of the basket garter.

10. Turn the garter right side out. Slip the garter over the basket with the elastic at the top around the basket rim.