
Goal
Create a fabric object that can hold other materials within it
Design Requirements
- Be made of some kind of flexible fabric or material
- Use a sewing machine to assemble the component parts
- Include a fastening mechanism as part of the design
Process
I recently bought an adorable wicker hamper from Goodwill for $5. It was cheap and really well-made, but it didn’t come with a lining. I thought that it would be absolutely fine, but after one load of dirtly clothes getting suck on all the wicker bits, I realized that it would need something to cover the inside.
I began by researching other hamper linings and realized that I wanted my lining to be white, easily removable, and not fall into my hamper with a lot of clothes weighing it down.
After completing my sketches, I realized that I wanted a very clean band of fabric around the top of the hamper and that I wanted the fabric to be white to accent the lightness of the wicker.
I began the process by creating a basic, muslin version of the fabric. This version proved great insight into understanding that unlike most bag-like forms, the seams of my version needed to be on the outside of the bag. Additionally, I realized that I would need to have a cut out of the moving joint area of the hamper within the bag design.
I decided to take these insights and create a final version of my design. I had an extra white sheet which was about the right thickness and alrad had a pre-sewn band on the top of it.

I used that band as a starting place for the top of the bag and re-measured and cut the fabric based on my muslin version.
I used the base of the hamper as a rough circular outline and pinned the fabric on the outside of the bag to ensure that the visible part, the inside, would look clean.
At this point, I also realized that the ties that were needed to hold the hamper in place would need to be sewn into the back of the top area of the liner. I wanted this part to be extremely sturdy, but also follow the same clean look of the top edge.

I left the stiching on the ties on the outside to match the top of the liner and keep that simple and clean look consistant.
Takeaways
This project let me explore how to sew functional things- something that I had not done before. It was really fun to create something that I needed and a product that will be used for the foreseeable future!

If I were to do this again, I would include some type of ties on the bottom of the liner so that it would stay connected at the bottom when I am trying to get my laundry out of it.
I would also iron my fabric because I think that sewing, especially the circular bottom piece, woul have been much easier had I done that.
I really love that I was able to find a way to use my extra sheet and create a free and adorable completed hamper for $5 from good will!
Thanks for reading :)

