Kids tend to come with a lot of laundry, and until they’re old enough to start helping do their own laundry, the best we can hope for is that they’ll at least put their dirty clothes in a laundry hamper. If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll even help you carry it to the laundry room! With this easy-to-sew, washable laundry hamper for kids, you might just be able to contain the mess in a cute hamper that hangs easily from a door handle or inside of a closet.
Using a fun patterned fabric that will match perfectly in your kids’ room, this laundry hamper is made with durable material, lined with solid colored canvas and secured with handles so that it’s easy to haul dirty clothes off to the laundry room. You can even through the bag in too!
Supplies:
- 1.5 yards heavy canvas fabric, solid
- 1.5 yards canvas fabric, patterned
- Scissors
- Matching thread
- Pins
- Iron, recommended
Step 1: Cut a large 46 x 25 inch rectangle from both the solid and patterned fabric. Also cut a 15-inch circle from each fabric. Iron fabric to remove wrinkles.
Note, if you don’t have an item to use as a stencil for the circle, you can tie a 7.5-inch string to a pen and draw the circle like you would with a compass.
Step 2: Fold the short ends of the patterned fabric together, right sides facing together. Repeat with the canvas. Pin and sew a straight seam, creating tubes (see above).
Step 3: With the fabric still wrong side out, pin the circular piece of fabric to the bottom of the tube. It’s easiest to maintain the shape when you pin very close together. Keep in mind the directionality of your pattern (if there is one) because the circle must be the bottom of the bag.
Sew around the circle with a 1/4 inch seam. Repeat with the solid fabric.
Step 4: Fold ONLY the solid piece right side out. Place the solid tube inside of the patterned one, lining up the seams. This way, the right sides of each piece are facing each other.
Step 5: Pin together around the edge, leaving a section about 3-4 inches long marked. Sew around the top of the bag, except for this section.
Step 6: Pull the bag right side out through the opening. You will need to turn both pieces to the right sides, then push the solid piece back inside of the patterned one.
Step 7: Line up the top edges now, and fold the unsewn section in, pinning in place. Sew a top stitch close to the edge all the way around. Then sew an additional seam about 1 inch down from the top.
This step is mostly decorative, but I find that it helped reduce some fabric bunching as well.
Step 8: From the remaining solid canvas fabric, cut two strips about 3 x 18 in. Fold along the long edges and sew. Then turn the tubes right side out and iron flat.
Optional: Fold in the bottoms and top stitch together.
Step 9: Determine the approximate middle. Measure about 3 inches from the top of the bag and pin one side of the handle in place. Measure about 2-3 inches over and pin the other. Repeat on the opposite side of the bag so that measurements are equal and handles match up.
Note, you’ll need to choose where you want the seam to show. I positioned it so that it is on one side, leaving it rarely visible.
Step 10: Sew a square with an X in it to secure each handle in place (see above). This allows the bag to hold more weight.
Mine are certainly not the prettiest, but I wanted to use a contrasting thread so it was visible in photos. You can use a matching color if desired.
At this size, you can easily hang the hamper from a doorknob or stand it up in a closet if you’ve used a stiff enough fabric. Fold over the top, or pick it up by the handle to drag it away to the laundry room. Then, you can clean the dirty laundry and even the laundry hamper with it!
