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The other day when I was over at my daughter Shannon’s house,  I was doing  some tiding up for her while she was nursing the baby.  I realized there was no where for me to put all the blankets and other miscellaneous baby stuff that comes with having a newborn.  She needed a big basket or bin in her living room to house all the stuff.  That’s when  I remembered the crate I had, it was the perfect size for what she needed.  I decided to spruce it up before I gave it to her.

First thing I did was to lightly sand the outside of the box.  Being careful not to sand off the cool writing on it.  Then I wiped some linseed oil over the crate to bring out the grain of the wood.

I had some left over scraps that spoke to me. {anyone else feel that way about fabric or am I just weird?}  I  loved the texture and color of the fabric against the crate.   I was bent on figuring out how to use what little I had to make a liner for the crate.

There was only enough damask print for the sides of the crate, so I used a cream canvas scrap for the bottom.  I just kind of winged the pattern and sewing for the liner.  I would say I am one step above a beginner sewer.  So if you can sew a straight seam you too can make a liner.

I measured the inside four sides of the box plus a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving a good 4-5″ in length to drape over the top of the crate. I sewed the four side seams together, making a rectangle box. Then I measured the bottom of the box and sewed the bottom canvas to the rectangle damask fabric.  On the outside edges where I attached the upholstery tacks, I made a finished seam.

I didn’t really know how I was going to attach the liner.  I first sewed elastic on the perimeter of the outside of the fabric and that didn’t work.  So I pulled out some upholstery tacks and just tacked them to the fabric on the outside of the crate.  They worked perfect, and they are easily removed to change out the liner.

Since I didn’t have enough fabric to wrap around the whole box, I split the corners

They didn’t turn out perfectly even because I was using scraps, but I am ok with that.  It is going to be full of stuff anyways, so no one will really notice

Overall I am very pleased with how it turned out.  It took me about two hours start to finish and it didn’t cost me but the $15 I paid for the crate.  I had all the other supplies and fabric on hand.

I know it will be put to good use at Shannon’s house because babies have A LOT of stuff.

Going to party at Jami’s Air Your Laundry

Giving an old crate some style is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.