DIY Wired Hamper Liner

Wire hampers with wheels are gorgeous but expensive, so I came up with a  DIY Laundry Hamper.    Although wire hampers are beautiful, I doubt they look nice filled with dirty laundry.  So I created this wire hamper liner to use with my new large laundry hamper.
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Supplies

For this large hamper, I used:

3 1/2 meters of muslin

1/2 meter of interfacing

76 ” by 8″ strip of coordinating fabric.

Thread, pen, chalk, and pins.

Start by measuring the size of your basket and add four inches for seam allowances.

Cut your fabric to size.  My wire hamper has a 72″ circumference and the basket height is 23″.

I chose muslin because it is inexpensive, and can be tossed in the washer.  Drop cloth was considered, but I ended up using muslin as its lighter and will be easier on my washing machine.

I cut my muslin 76″ wide and 28 ” tall, so I had plenty of seam allowance, and the accent fabric is 76″ wide by 8″ tall.

The Seams

Because both the inside and the outside of the liner is seen, instead of finishing the seams with a simple zig-zag finish like I usually do. This time start by doing rolled seams on every fabric edge that way all your fabric edges are tidy, and you don’t have to finish seam edges afterward.

If you have not done rolled seams before, they are a simple 1/4 inch hem that I finished with a zig zag stitch.  Here’s my example.

Attach your coordinating fabric to the muslin.  Place the rolled seams on top of each other, and sew both the top and the bottom of the seam.   Your finished seam will look like this on the inside of your basket.

Sewing both edges make the seam like flat and closed.  Sew as close to the edge of the seam as possible.

Now that you have the coordinating fabric attached to the muslin.  Fold your fabric in half good side together and sew the side seam creating a tube.   Set aside.

Make the Circle Bottom

Measure the diameter of your base, divide it in half to get the radius. Cut a piece of thread and using a pen at the center, and chalk at the other end.

Lay out a double layer of muslin and using the pen and chalk draw a circle the size of your base.  Cut the material an inch outside the chalk mark.

Alternatively, if you have access to the base of your hamper as I did, take a double thickness of muslin place it over the base and draw the edging. Then cut your material an inch outside the chalk mark.

Remove the back of the interfacing and lay it between the two layers of muslin.  Trim the outside edges and iron.  The double layers and the interfacing will add needed weight to the bottom of your hamper liner.  Finish the outside of your circle with a zig-zag stitch.

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Fold your circle into fourths and mark with chalk.  This will help you light the bottom up with the walls of the hamper liner.

Attaching the Hamper Bottom to the Walls

The most important thing about making a basket liner is ensuring that the liner is long enough, and this is even more important when using a wire basket.  Making the liner a bit longer will distribute the weight of laundry to the bottom of the liner instead of applying pressure to the top.

Take this measurement add two inches and that will be the distance from the seam where the coordinating fabric and the muslin meet to the bottom.  I hope you can see in the above picture, how there is slack on the side of the walls, so the weight is distributed to the bottom.

Mark the quarter points on your walls, just like you did on the bottom.

Fold both seams upwards so that the seam is on the inside of the liner.  Line up and start pinning at the four quarter marks.  Then add more pins.  Once you are sure everything is lined up (there is very little gathering.) sew the two pieces together in a circle.

Place your liner into the hamper good side out, fold over the coordinating fabric so it hangs over the sides and holds the liner in place.

I did consider adding some twill tape ribbon to the top of the liner where the coordinating fabric and liner meet so that it can be tied to hold it in place.  I don’t think its necessary but you could add some if you think your liner may slide down.

Enjoy your weekend!