Waste Not: Basket Liner

Thing 2 has found a new hobby--destroying the toy basket in the living room. I'm sure she is just "exploring" the way the basket is put together, but I'm rather tired of picking up bits of straw and what-not before she tries to eat it too.

If you've ever visited this site, you understand how quickly things can get out of hand. And, while it's not a very good basket, I'd rather spend money playing Santa right now than buying a new toy box.

So, instead, I decided to line the basket with some cotton material I had lying around in an attempt to prolong the poor thing's life. The liner covers all the edges, making it much harder for those chubby little fingers to tear it apart further....or so I'm telling myself.

Here's what I did:

First, I cut off all the raged edges and sealed them with hot glue.

Next, I took a yard a material and cut a generous oval shape out (because the basket is oval).

fold over once

Sewing a 1/4 inch hem around the edges took care of any raw ends and made it easier to sew a space (heretofore referred to as the "pocket" because I can't think of a better word for it) to run a draw string through. Make sure that pocket is wide enough for the string/elastic.

fold a second time to
make the pocket for the
string/elastic

You could easily use a piece of elastic here as well but I wanted to be able to pull the fabric together to form a bag when the basket eventually falls apart.

Use a big safety pin to help
you get the string/elastic
through the pocket

When you sew the pocket for the string, leave 3-4 inches open so you can work the string or elastic through. This is easily done if you attach a large safety pin to the end and push it through (be careful to hold on the other end of the string/elastic or you'll have to start again).

button holes for the
drawstring

Once I had the string in place, I made two button holes for the strings to come out  and sewed the pocket closed. I tied knots in the end of the string so they wouldn't go back through the button holes. If you are using elastic, determine how tight you want the fabric to be around the basket, cutting off excess elastic (be sure to leave enough stretchy to be able to remove the liner). Sew the ends of the elastic together and finish by sewing shut the pocket.

Placing the material, right side up, in the basket, I simply pulled the string to tighten it around the basket, covering all damaged edges and tied a bow.

we'll call this plan A

...and this plan B

When my sad little basket finally goes to the big childless house in the sky, I can flip the fabric over and contain the toys this way (until a new victim is chosen to be the toy box).

*** UPDATE: after nearly giving myself brain damage trying to think of the right word, my dear friend Amy helped me out-it's a casing, not a pocket. I about blew a brain valve there, Babe, Thank you! (and now my mother can stop laughing at me, professional seamstress that she is).