How to line a vintage picnic basket

There was quite a bit of fabric that I cut off the parts that I pinned. Four corners, four pieces of fabric. I did a little hem in them for napkins. But after I made all four of them, I decided to use them in a different way. I sewed two of them together on 3 sides to use as a little pouch for paper plates and napkins. Another one, I folded over to make a pouch for plastic cutlery. I used adhesive Velcro on both so that the things wouldn’t spill out.

I padded the lid with cotton batting. While I was doing that, I noticed that there was a faint pencil marking of $1.89 on the lid. Apparently that is what it cost originally. At the last minute (the day before Jamie was arriving for a visit) I decided to make a divider shelf. I used a piece of hardboard, cut to fit the shape of the inside of the basket. I used a paddle bit to cut finger holes near the center to lift it out. I used dowel rods to have it raised about 4 inches off the bottom. I covered it with the printed fabric (lid). To do this, I used spray adhesive that works great, just try not to get it on your hands! When I do get it on my hands, I use baby oil to remove it.

After finishing the basket, I went to the Dollar Tree and bought all kinds of goodies to fill it.