Photo Diary: DIY Laundry Hamper

Jun 22

In planning the nursery I wanted to reuse pieces we already had and create unique touches. I sanded and repainted a dresser Mark had (from college!) and a cute DIY that would be great as a hamper. Enter a braided basket. The penultimate way to use all my old (and EXPENSIVE! I'm sure Owen will beg for them one day too...) t-shirts from cheerleading in high school and college that I "had" to have at the time.

See mom, I will truly use them forever :)

First, I cut all the shirts (I had about 20-25) into strips

It took quite awhile, good thing I had company

Next, I cut the Jersey fabric into strips which was much quicker, thank goodness

Jennifer decoded the instructions for me and mom helped sew all the strips together on the sewing machine which was a lifesaver.

LIFESAVER.

Let the braiding begin!

After what felt like an eternity of braiding, it was time to form the basket

It took five months to complete -- I am not a fast sewer (I had to youtube baste stitch more times than I care to admit) and I truly took my time so I didn't jack it up trying to rush.

Bought a plant support to give it structure (and a nice Home Depot employee bent the metal to size + electrical tape the edges) then I used zip ties {similar} to secure the support to the basket