fabric tray tutorial

fabric tray tutorial

http://www.noodle-head.com/2011/10/fabric-tray-tutorial.html

 

[Just re-posting this here, I shared this as part of Skip to My Lou's Holiday Bake, Craft and Sew Along!]

This project is really fun because you can make it as simple or complex as you'd like and there's really no rules, love that.  So for making a really fun customizable fabric tray read on...

 

I had made a tray earlier this year for my dad and I figured this would be a simple project to share!
This is a great project to make to combine with a few other goodies for a hostess gift, a gift for your not-so-organized husband as a place for him to set his glasses and wallet and spare change, or for a special friend.  Fill it with treats, magazines, recipes, anything works!  I've included dimensions to make three different sized fabric trays: pencil size (small), spare change size (medium), and magazine size (large).  This is also a great scrap busting project, so dig into your scrap bin and pull out your favs.  Enjoy!

Materials:
For small fabric pencil tray:

• 2 pieces of fabric 10"Wx6"T (this is where you can get as fancy or simple as you'd like, think of patchwork, quilt blocks, anything goes - just trim it down to this size)
• one piece cotton batting or fusible fleece 10"Wx6"T
• one piece peltex 7"Wx3"T stiff double side fusible interfacing (I used Peltex 72F, found at Walmart/joanns, etc.)

For medium fabric spare change tray:

• 2 pieces of fabric 12"Wx10"T
• one piece cotton batting or fusible fleece 12"Wx10"T
• one piece peltex 9"Wx7"T stiff double side fusible interfacing (I used Peltex 72F, found at Walmart/joanns, etc.)

For large fabric magazine tray:

• 2 pieces of fabric 16x15
• one piece cotton batting or fusible fleece 16x15
• one piece peltex 12x11 stiff double side fusible interfacing (I used Peltex 72F, found at Walmart/joanns, etc.)

Directions:
Fuse fleece to one of the main fabric piece (if using fusible fleece), fuse peltex centered onto the fabric you've selected for the bottom of your tray.

Layer batting (no need if you've already used fusible fleece), fabric for inside of tray RIGHT side up, fabric for bottom of tray RIGHT side down (see picture, the peltex is fused center, leaving the plastic layer on for now). 

Pin.  Sew along all four edges using a 1/4" seam allowance, but leaving a 3-4" opening for turning (5" opening for the large tray).  Clip corners.  Remove plastic film from peltex. Turn right side out, push out corners with a chopstick or other dull instrument.  Press, tucking the raw edges of the opening inside. Also press the peltex rectangle to fuse it to the tray interior. 

Topstitch along all edges, thus closing the opening you left for turning. 

Sew a rectangle along the edges of the peltex rectangle.  You'll be able to feel the edge of it through the fabric, if not, sewing through it isn't a big deal.  A water soluble pen might come in handy to keep your rectangle looking like a rectangle! You can even do more quilting at this point if you wish.

Pinch each corner at the edge of the peltex, bending the fabric up to meet at the edges. 

Here you can either use floss (or even thread) and sew a few stitches through the two edges to hold them together. 

 

Or you can pin them together and stitch straight up the corner you pinched (remembering to backstitch).  Repeat for the remaining 3 corners and you're set! 

Fill with whatever your heart desires and give that gift!!

I'd also like to note that there are a lot of similar projects out there, so if this isn't your cup of tea, try one of these fab tutorials:

• fabric tray by chic chic sewing
• trinket tray by heather bailey
• fabric scrap basket by The Sometimes Crafter
• happy hostess gift box by Jennifer Casa for Sew Mama Sew

Or better yet, stop by my blog and check out all my tutorials and patterns, maybe you'll find something else you just HAVE to make!  Thanks for having me Cindy!

[fabrics: linen, lizzy house 1001 peeps (blue), tula pink parisville (yellow), greenfield hill denyse schmidt (green)]