DIY Easter Basket Liner
Create a fabric Easter basket liner for the holiday! This tutorial will show you how to make a basket liner for a 7.5″ basket as well as create your your own pattern for any size basket. Add fun trim like lace or pom-poms for extra cuteness!
Hello Crafty Friends! Last year I made these cute DIY Easter basket liners for my kids’ baskets and today I am sharing the pattern for them! I decided to make these after seeing all of the pretty fabric liners at stores like Pottery Barn Kids. Since I already had the perfect fabric on hand, I knew a handmade version was the way to go.
I found my baskets at Joann Fabrics and they turned out to be a great size – especially since I love giving books for Easter! Once I had my baskets, I worked on creating a pattern. While my baskets measure 7.5″ in diameter, this process I used for creating the pattern will work for any size basket!
You can make the liners with lace, Pom-poms or leave them plain like I left my son’s. I am so happy I took the time to make these since I can reuse them year after year!
For this tutorial, I made a basket liner using adorable bunny fabric from Ann Kelle and the sweetest pastel Pom-Pom trim from the Etsy shop, LacesWorld. This tutorial shows you how to make a basket liner for any size basket. You can also grab the free pattern in my Resource Library, it will work for a basket that is 7.5″ and can also be a helpful guide as you follow the tutorial to create the perfect size liner for your basket!
How to Make Your Own Easter Basket Liner
Supplies Needed
*These supplies are for one Easter Basket Liner that fits a 7.5″ diameter basket (measurement taken from inside the basket). If the basket you are using is a different size, the quantity of the supplies listed will vary.
- Basket
- Free pattern for a 7.5″ basket: Grab the free file by filling out the purple form at the end of this post.
- Paper, pencil, ruler & scissors to create pattern
- Fabric scissors and pins
- Fabric – quilting cotton, gingham, seersucker would all work well.
- My 7.5″ diameter Easter basket took 1 yard of fabric
- For this tutorial I used Ann Kelle Urban Zoologie
- Lace trim or Pom Pom trim *optional
- 1/2″ Elastic – 24″ cut into two 12″ long pieces
- 3/8″ widerRibbon – 32″ cut into four 8″ long pieces
Creating the Pattern:
Step One: The first step is creating the pattern for the basket liner so that it will fit whatever size basket you have perfectly! My basket measured 7.5″ in diameter and you can download the free pattern I created for it. This may be handy to take a look at even if your basket is a different size.
Start with a large sheet of paper, a pencil and your basket. Lay the basket on its side with one side of the handle on the bottom, touching the paper, and the other facing up. Mark the top and bottom of the basket where the handle touches the paper. Slowly roll the basket while tracing along the top and bottom. Take your time and go slowly and make sure you let the basket roll the way it wants to roll. Once the other side of the handle is on the bottom, touching the paper, you can stop rolling the basket and mark the top and bottom of the basket. You have now traced one side of your basket.
This is what my basket tracing looked like.
Connect and smooth out the bottom curve of the basket. Measure how tall the sides of your basket are with a ruler and mark that amount up from the bottom curve of the basket. My basket was 5.25″ tall, so I marked 5.25″ from my bottom curve, marking a dash every 1″ or so. After that, I connected the dashes to form a smooth top curve line.
Mark 1/2″ in from either side at the top of the pattern. This is to make room for the basket handle. Add 2.5″ to the top of the pattern between the 1/2″ marks you just made. This is the part of the fabric that will be coming over the basket and be visible. You can make this part any length you want. I added 2.5″ to two of my basket liners, which seemed like a great length for my 7.5″ diameter basket.
If your basket is smaller, you would make this part shorter. I made my bunny liner just 2.25″ to give more room for the Pom-Poms to hang down. If I did it again, I would probably keep it at 2.5″.
Mark your pattern so it will be easy to read. Mark “SS” for side seam – this is where the basket handles will be, and Mark “CF” for Center Front. I always label my patterns. And note that this pattern does not include seam allowance (NSA = No Seam Allowance). We will be adding 1/2″ seam allowance to all sides when we cut out the fabric. I also wrote “Cut 4” on my pattern piece since we will need to cut four of these total, two for the front and two for the back.
Cut out the pattern. You can see when I place it back in my basket, it fits, and the notches are where the basket handles are.
To create the pattern piece for the bottom of the basket, measure the diameter inside your basket. Then draw this out on a piece of paper. Measure with a tape measure where the handles will be and mark them “SS” on the pattern piece. Mark “CF” and CB” (Center Back) on the pattern as well by finding the middle point between each “SS”. These markings are important because you will use them to match up your fabric pieces while sewing.
The pattern is now ready!
Sewing the Easter Basket Liner:
Step One: Use your new pattern pieces to cut out your fabric. You will need to cut 4 of the large basket liner pieces and 1 circle. Add 1/2″ seam allowance to all sides before cutting the fabric. I lightly trace around my pattern piece in pencil, and then add the 1/2 seam allowance with a pencil and ruler. Each side of the basket takes 2 of the large basket liner pieces. If you fold your fabric, right sides together, so there are two layers, you can just cut out 2 basket liner pieces and you will have four pieces total then.
Step Two: If you wish to add lace to your basket liner, you can do so now. Pin the lace along the top curve with right sides together, about 1/4″ – 3/8″ away from the edge. Pin the second layer of fabric over the lace so it is sandwiched between the two layers of fabric. Then sew along the top curve with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Repeat for the other set of pieces.
If you are not adding lace, sew along the top curve of each set of liner pieces, with right sides together and a 1/2″ seam allowance.
Step Three: You will now have two pieces total – a front and back. Open the seams you just sewed and press them open.
Open up the pieces so the top curve seam you just stitched is open. Now, lay the two pieces together, right sides facing each other, and stitch along the four sides with a 1/2″ seam allowance. This is marked below in pink. Press all seams.
Reposition the fabric so the top curve seams you sewed first are together and the side seams you just stitched are laid open. Your fabric will be in a loop. It is now time to stitch the notched areas of the side seams. We’ll be adding elastic to the top curve to pull the fabric in around our basket, so we need to mark 5/8″ from the top curve line as shown below in pink.
Stitch around the notch with a tiny 1/4″ seam allowance. Start and stop at the 5/8″ marks you just made. Trim the seam allowance. The stitch line is marked in pink below.
Turn right side out and press. I tucked the 1/4″ seam allowance at the elastic openings in and pressed this to hold in place.
Step Four: Stitch along the top curve on both sides 5/8″ away from the top. You’ll be stitching on the right side of the fabric going through two layers. We are creating the casing for our elastic to sit.
Press and smooth the fabric down towards the opening at the bottom. Pin the two layers in place and stitch at 1/2″. The stitch line for one side is shown in pink below. Repeat for both sides. You will sew this twice – once on each side.
Step Five: Time to attach the sides to the bottom of the basket. With right sides together, match up both “SS” markings. Match the “CF” markings from the liner sides to the “CF” and “CB” markings on the basket bottom. I used a bunch of pins to help ease the fabric in. Most people prefer to place their pins facing in so you aren’t poked while sewing and they are easy to pull out – I prefer this way for some crazy reason! :)
Stitch around the bottom of the basket liner with 1/2″ seam allowance.
Step Six: Next, it’s time to add the elastic and ribbon to each side of the basket. Cut four, 8″ pieces of ribbon, and two elastic pieces that measure 12″ each. If your basket is a different size than the one I’m using, you will need to adjust the length of elastic. It should be a few inches less than the length of your top curve.
Attach a small safety pin to one end of the elastic and pass it through one of the casings. I pin the other end to the hole I inserted the elastic in to keep it from pulling through. Slip one of the ribbon ties into the casing and stitch this first end down, making sure to stitch through the ribbon and the elastic. I go back and forth a few times to really make sure the elastic is secure. Pull the end of elastic with the safety pin all the way through the casing to the other side. Slip a ribbon tie in the casing and again stitch down the ends of the elastic going through the elastic, ribbon and fabric layers. Repeat these steps for the other side of the basket.
You can now put your liner into your basket and bring the top curve edge over the basket and secure it by tying the ribbon into a bow.
Step Seven: If you wish to add Pom-pom trim, you can do that now. If I added the Pom-pom trim when I added the lace, the Pom-pom trim would now be gathered. By waiting until after the liner is finished, I can add it and it will lay flat against my basket.
With the basket liner in your basket, pin the Pom-pom trim underneath both sides of the liner. You can then take the liner off the basket and hand stitch the Pom-pom trim in place.
Yay!! The liner is complete!! Here is a close-up picture of the purple liner. I love the lavender and white lace! I found this lace trim at Joann Fabrics.
Thank you for following along! If you make an Easter Basket Liner using this tutorial, I would love to see it! Share on Instagram or Facebook and tag @craftingcheerfully :) I’m excited to fill baskets for my kids this year. Books, art supplies and sidewalk chalk are my go-to basket favorites. What do you like to fill your Easter baskets with?
Fun Easter Basket Fillers!
Here are some of the fillers you’ll find in my basket pictures, in case you are interested in something similar!
- Book – The Further Tale of Peter Rabbit
- Book – The Spectacular Tale of Peter Rabbit
- Book – Happy Easter Mouse!
- Book – The Tale of Peter Rabbit Board Book
- Crayons
- Wilton carrot-shaped treat baggies
- Peter Rabbit Stuffy (this one is really similar to the one I bought)
I’ve included the basket liner pattern I created for my 7.5″ baskets. If your basket is a different size you will need to follow the directions above on how to create your own! :)
Get the Free 7.5″ Easter Basket Liner Pattern!
Fill out the purple form below with your first name and email address! The free file will be sent straight to your inbox! If you have already filled out the form below, don’t worry – you won’t be added to my list twice! This freebie is for personal use only. I hope you enjoy crafting something special. Please let me know if you have any questions :)