There are just some items I hate to spend money on. I can’t seem to get over the sticker shock.
Pillow covers used to be one of them, but I went for it when we moved into our home. This, after years of making my own pillow covers and realizing the things you pay for are the hard to find fabrics, intricate embroidery or time-consuming beading. Worth the splurge when you want something specific.
I hate to spend money on lamps. The prices just doesn’t seem right. $250 for a tripod lamp? I’ve had diy success in that department with my tripod lamp and wine bottle lamps.
The list could go on. I’ll skip to the chase: hampers. It’s like spending money on garbage cans. Who wants to? Until you become a grown-up and a housekeeper and develop preferences for these things. For five years we used the hamper that my husband brought into the marriage.
My husband’s hamper deteriorated after support our family of five and one day at Target I found an inexpensive (less than $20) black, synthetic-fiber woven hamper. It had handles, very important, and perfect for the hamper in our master bath. Some time ago I also found a three-section fabric hamper with casters from Bed, Bath and Beyond (“3 B’s” for short). We have a phrase, instead of saying something is a POS, we say “it’s as if [it] came from 3-B’s.” Recently that hamper broke, as you may have predicted. It was unrepairable because metal from 3 B’s can bend. As an official grown-up and housewife, I have hamper preferences now. Sections. Casters. This is the stuff of laundry paradise for me. On to the diy Pinterest market. This is what I found, a French inspired wire hamper
My husband purchase the wire mesh from Home Depot. The openings are 2 inch x 4 inch. He shaped it as a rectangle so it could fit beside our “ultimate our changing station” (a built in cabinet in our hallway). He attached casters beneath it.
For fabric I went into my storage box acquired when my grandmother last moved. A blue on blue stripe referenced the French inspiration with a kick. Blue is my beyond the seasons accent color for our soft gray walls.
I managed to use nearly every scrap of that and used a dark blue denim for the divider. I’m no great hand at the sewing machine, and I got pretty sloppy at the end, but I’ll give you the step-by-step on how I did this.
To sew the liner, I wrapped it around the outside (did not have enough), trimmed the excess from the top (enough for fill in that fourth side), trimmed the excess off of that (enough to make the bottom). The the sides of the liner, I first folded the top down to 1 inch (with a little bit tucked under for a clean line) to make a space to run a ribbon or cord for tying. I sewed the sides of the liner together into one piece.
The liner was stitched in by pinning it between a pinched section in the middle of the longer sides. When I sewed the second side and put the liner in the hamper to see how it was working, the liner came right out. If you try this, do yourself a favor and check after pinning, before stitching.
Once the liner was attached, I sewed everything onto the rectangular base fabric I was lucky enough to have as a remnant from the sides. I should have measured more carefully on this, but it all came together!
Using a safety pin attached to one end, I strung an ivory ribbon through to secure it. 
And it fits perfectly next to the changing station.
Hopefully, it’s not too “diy kitsch.” I’m proud of it. The only problem is as I was sewing, my hands gradually turned more and more blue. Today I’ll be washing it in the machine on cold with a Tbsp of salt.
