Old Shipping Box to Canvas Lined Storage Container

It is March now and I would like to think that spring is just around the corner, and then it snowed something like 5 inches yesterday, boo on you frozen tundra. That hasn't stopped me from thinking about spring cleaning! First things first, get all of those toys under control. It is ridiculous how many toys the little monster has and he keeps them strewn everywhere. He does, however, like to help me clean and tidy up just not his toys. I love baskets, the ones with liners specifically, but they are so expensive to buy. So, when I saw a post some months ago about Amy from http://www.positivelysplendid.com/ turning diaper boxes into lined canvas storage boxes, I was all over it! Well, a month or so later!

Here is what I started with:

Jagger thought it was perfect with his stickers already on it, but I wanted something more presentable :) So I headed to Joann's and found the perfect fabric to go with the linen. Green, blue, birds, brown, can't go wrong with that! I just followed the instructions that is on the website I mentioned above to cover the boxes with linen. To give you an idea of how much fabric you will need, I bought 2 yards of each linen. I used 1 1/2 yards to cover a 12x12x8 box and four 8.5 x 11x5 box.

Here is what I ended up with:

To make the liners, you will need to cut 5 pieces of fabric. One for the bottom, and then all four sides. For the smaller boxes I added 2 inches to the length and for the big box I added 4 inches. So for example, with the big box I cut five 12.5" squares. The bottom was 12" square and all four sides are 12"x8".

Now you want to hem one side of your fabric panels for 4 pieces.

I folded over 1/2" and sewed at 1/4".

If you are using a fabric where the pattern matters, like the bird pattern I used, make sure you sew it so that it will run in the correct direction when flipped over the side of your box.

In this one you can see that the fabric turns over the edge correctly.

but see in this one how the pattern runs wrong going down in the box? No one will see it once it is filled with toys anyway, they will only pay attention to what the flipped over edge looks like.

Once you have hemmed all of your panels, sew them onto the bottom piece in there respective places. Then you will want to sew the corners together. Make sure the tops line up evenly, like this:

Be sure to reinforce the tops of your corners really well or the seam will break when you turn it over on the box, not that I learned the hard way or anything :)

Once you have sewn all 4 corners, put it in your newly linen covered box and turn the edge over!

I added "No. 1" on the top box and can't decide if I want to keep it and add it to all the boxes or not. I used a brown vinyl cut with my Cricut for this.

Here is a closer view of the 2 fabrics I chose.

Now I need to go get me some stuffing and make some throw pillows to match!