Sew Cute - Casserole Carrier *tutorial*

Summer is always the time I break out my crafty side since I actually have the time to do it and enjoy it. I pinned a 9couple tutorials for making DIY casserole dish carriers. So I combined a few and here is how it turned out!

Overall, I was really pleased. I would make a couple minor changes, but for the most part it turned out just like I wanted. 

What you need:

2 yards light or medium weight cotton fabric

1 yard Insul-bright

Velcro - the thicker the better, but I used 3/4 in. (I bought 36 in, but you probably only need half of that)

Batting

Lets begin! 

Start by cutting 2 pieces of Insul-bright to the following sizes: 

30" X 13" and 36" X 11 

Then you will need to cut 2 pieces of fabric to match each piece of Insul-bright. (So you are cutting 4 pieces of fabric total.) To save time, just cut the fabric slightly larger than the Insul-bright and trim the excess fabric later. 

Gather the 30" X 13" Insul-bright and the 2 pieces of corresponding fabric. 

Take the two pieces of fabric and lay them pretty sides facing. Then lay the Insul-bright on top. Pin in place.

Sew all around the pins using the edge of the Insul-bright as your guide. Leave about a 2"-3" opening so you can turn it right side out. 

If there is a lot of excess fabric, go ahead and trim that now. Then pull the fabric through the opening so it is right side out.

Iron and push out the corners so that they are pointed. Now top stitch around the entire piece of fabric. This will stitch up the 2"-3" opening that you left before.  

Repeat with the 36" X 11"

Pieces should look like this now. 

Set those aside for now and let's make the straps. 

Cut 4 pieces of fabric 40" X 2 1/2" 

Cut 2 pieces of batting the same size. 

Layer them just like before: Pretty sides facing and the batting on the top. Pin and sew along long sides - don't worry about the short sides. Flip right side out, iron flat, and top stitch along the long sides. They should look like this. 

Now it's time to attach the straps to the 30" X 13" piece that you created earlier. If you look at the first picture, you only want your straps to be attached so far so it hangs correctly and doesn't go on top of the dish. I took the 30" X 13" piece of fabric and wrapped it around my casserole dish to estimate where to stop my straps. Here is what I came up with. You need to stop sewing 8 1/2" from each side and your strap should lay within 3" from the edge...see photo. 

You should only sew the middle part and leave the 8 1/2" on each side not sewn. 

Also, the top part (when looking at this photo) of the strap should be 3" from the bottom. I laid everything out and then pinned it. I did the same thing with the other strap using the pins as my guide where to stop sewing. Then sew both straps on. Use the top stitch that you did on the straps as your guide and just stitch right over those. These will be seen on the bottom of the carrier, so try and make it as neat as possible. Remember to stop at your last pin so you don't go too far. 

 

Now it's time to attach the 30" X 13" to the 36" X 11". The 30" X 13" with the straps attached goes on the bottom with the straps on the very bottom. Just line them up and measure to get them in the center of each other. 

When I first did this, I hadn't attached the straps yet, but it will be less work to just attach the straps first. That's why you don't see them in the next couple photos. Remember, the straps would be on the very bottom. 

 You can even get a dish and play around. 

Pin everything together and then sew away. Again, I used the top stitch on these pieces as my guide and just stitched right over them. Again, these will be seen, so make it as neat as possible. 

*try not to accidently slide the strap under the needle on the sewing machines a you are sewing these two things together! You will have to pull all the stitches out and redo that line! As you can probably guess...that happened to me!

Now time to attached the Velcro!

Put a casserole dish inside and pin Velcro in place. You might have to play around a bit to get it exactly where you want it. 

I placed the Velcro in 4 places so it velcros twice when closing. Sew the Velcro on. 

The last step is the handles. I added little padded pieces to the straps to make the handles. Cut two pieces of fabric 6 1/2" by 5 1/2" and cut two pieces of batting 6 1/2" by 5 1/2"

Fold each one in half hot dog style with pretty sides facing and fold batting in half and wrap around fabric. Sew along the long side using the battling as your guide. Then flip right side out and iron flat. 

Repeat with second handle. 

Fold the two unsewn edges in to make it look nice. Now it's time to pull the straps on the carrier through each side of the handle. Make sure you pull an even amount through both sides so it's not lopsided. Pin everything in place and top stitch all around the handles. 

Enjoy your new casserole dish carrier that's just your style!! I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it is fairy easy! Shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours. I just put on a good movie and started working! Time flies when you're having fun!