Easter Basket Liners

Wow, the Easter Bunny must be so busy right now.  It was so nice for the Easter Bunny to make four liners for my kiddos' Easter baskets.  Here are two photos of them.

The Easter Bunny even left directions for me to make oval basket liners if I want to.  It's pretty simple.

Step 1.  Measure the inside depth of the basket from the bottom to the top and measure over as far as you want the basket to drape over the edge.  Add an extra inch for the tube/hem.  This basket gave me a measurement of 10". 

Step 2.  Measure around the outside rim of the basket and add an extra inch for the seam.  This basket gave me a measurement of 46".  If you don't want your liner to drape over your basket you probably could measure around the inside rim, making a tighter liner that you could hot glue to the basket.

Step 3.  Measure around the inside bottom of the oval basket and add 1/2" to this to allow for the seam.

Step 4.  Take the measurements in Step 1 and Step 2 and draw yourself a rectangle.  The Easter Bunny used tissue paper to make a pattern.  Cut it out.

Step 5.  Take the inside oval measurement in Step 3 and draw your oval on the tissue paper.  Cut it out.

Step 6.  In trying a homemade pattern this Easter Bunny (now called EB) always make a trial using old fabric.  On extra fabric the EB pinned the pattern pieces and cut them out.

Step 7. EB laid out the rectangle piece out flat, right side down, and double folded over one long edge about an inch or so.  I didn't measure it but eyed it to make sure I could put a safety pin through it when threading ribbon.  I sewed it near the edge so I had an opening big enough for that safety pin.

Step 8.  Then EB put the rectangle right sides together and matched up the short ends and stitched them together.  Don't forget to leave the tube/hem open...don't sew it shut.

Step 9.  Now take the oval right side up and take the rectangle with the right side facing inward and pin them together at the bottom.  There's two ways to approach this.  You could stitch a gathering line on the long raw end of the rectangle and pull to gather the fabric; then pin the oval bottom to the bottom of the gathered rectangle.  The Easter Bunny (EB) tried that first and it worked but it seemed to take forever. 

What EB ended up doing for the remaining three baskets was to mark the centers of all four sides of the rectangle and oval and pin them together and make some pleats along the way.  No measuring just eyeing it and making pleats to make both pieces fit together.  That took less time then sewing and pulling the thread to gather the fabric.

Step 10.  Sew the pinned bottom to the side.

Step 11.  Run some ribbon or elastic through the top hem.  Put your liner in the basket with the right side of the bottom facing up.  The top of the liner will lie over the basket and you can use the ribbon to tighten it and then tie a bow.

There you've got it.  It sounds harder then it really is.