Making a Basket Liner

I took off work today, using up some of my leftover vacation. I seem way more productive on off days than on weekends, not sure why that is. Anyway, my mom gave me one of her Longaberger baskets this Christmas and she said I ought to get a liner for it, so I decided to make one. I cut a rectangle from muslin to fit the bottom, then 2 lengths to do the insides with several inches folding over the top edge. I pinned the insides to fit. My mom made me this huge pincushion, which is really handy to have. One thing I learned, when you are loading up a pincushion, don't just grab a few pins and jab them in. One or two may be facing up and your fingers will become the pincushion when the ball hits the felt. Yes, blonde is my natural color, why do you ask? :)

The outside will be fairly snug if it's a good fit.

Needs a iron, but you get the idea:

Then is the fun part, figuring out how you want the outside to look. I have been experimenting with fabric flowers and so I decided to use some of those. This one is a long stip with a center ruffle that you just roll up into a flower shape. I love that something so simple can be so pretty.

I also wanted to put some ruffles on it, so I made a zillion miles of them.

I put on 3 rows of ruffles all sewn closely together for a full fluffy look. I wasn't sure which flower style I preferred, the roll up ruffle rose above, or the folded over rosette below:

So I did both sides differently, that way I can turn it around from time to time for a new look.



I am pretty happy with how this turned out. I'm not really one to do the same thing twice, but I have a lot more baskets. We'll see if I can think of something a little different next time. This one is all ready to hold our throw blankets in my living room.


**EDITED to add - It just occurred to me that this basket is Katie's Rose Cottage inspired! Never even hit me til I went back to her blog and this is her style all over - thanks for the inspiration Lori!**
Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a good week!

Linking up to Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming.

Miss Mustard Seed's Copy Me Challenge

It wasn't until a few days after I'd slipcovered my ottoman following Miss Mustard Seed's directions that it occurred to me to enter the MMS/FJD Copy Me Challenge. And while I haven't done nearly as well as Donna mimicking her style, I did sew (a lot), and that should count for something, right? Let's hope so! Here is a rundown on the projects I undertook (on a low budget) for the challenge:

- Slipcovered my ripped leather ottoman using bleached dropcloths with pleats and cording accents. I love, love, love how this turned out and I have MMS to thank for that. What I did differently - I used skirt pleats rather than box pleats, and didn't do the paint stripes. This brush with success makes me want to cover the couch, but the cushions don't come off so I think that would not work out well. So I'm going to cover my daughter's loveseat. :)

- Covered some of my pillow assortment with dropcloth fabric. OK, I realize I blew it here because again, I didn't add any frenchy stripes and monogram letters. Honestly, much as I love MMS's style, I am not sure about the stripes, so I ruffled instead. Fatal mistake, maybe, but copy challenge or no, I gotta be me. Though I might work up to the monogramming thing.

- Painted the base of my 15-year old cheapo MDF end tables white, distressed and antiqued them with walnut stain, MMS Old-School Style. I left the tops in their "natural" state, which is a laminate of some sort that bears a vague resemblance to wood. I liked it so much I did the same for my wall shelf. French antiques they aren't, I worked with what I had.


- Swapped out my Wysocki prints for framed black and white antique photos. These are school photos from the early 20th century from my instant ancestor stash. I have a boxload of it I got years ago at an auction. Other accessories - white pitcher of flowers (seen in the last photo below) and galvanized lunch pail I got from an auction a long time ago.

- Sewed dropcloth curtains. Now, I don't really know if MMS condones these since her curtains are pretty florals, but they were MMS inspired, so I'm including them.

And that is it! So, here is a before pic:

And here is after:


What do you think? Maybe not a perfect "copy" of MMS Style, but completely inspired by it. Now, please excuse me while I go paint an antique sign.