We have a robot theme going in our new nursery and I just fell in love with the I Heart fabric from Timeless Treasures that was designed by Rashida Coleman-Jones. (Purchased at Whipstitch Fabrics) This lovely fabric came in cotton, and also a lovely cotton/linen blend that has a lovely weight I enjoyed working with very much!
Pretty soon I will be able to share photos from the finished nursery. In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy this little sneak peek at the decor, and this tutorial.
And oh yeah, we picked a name for our new baby - check it out!
This fabric bin will either store baby toys on the floor. Nice and soft for the baby to access. Or, we'll use it to store diapers next to the changing pad. I have other fabric bins too, so now I just need to figure out where they go!
To start, I cut five 10' by 10' squares of the outer fabric and some interfacing. I used a medium stiffness interfacing. I considered using fusible fleece but I didn't have enough on hand. If you have batting, that would work too.
Next I laid out the fabric pieces, with a piece of the interfacing on top. (this is when I realized fusible interfacing might make this a bit easier.) Because the robot fabric is directional, it's important to get the layout correct so each side has robots that aren't upside down! The arrows here show how to layout the fabric.
Ok, the layout is good. Now I must sew each panel in place. I pinned the center piece to a side piece first.
This was sewn together with a half inch seam. VERY IMPORTANT - start and end sewing a half inch before each side.
I sewed two opposite sides first.
Now the other two sides, and this is why that half inch space in sewing is important. If you sew with a half inch space again, you should have a perfect corner.
Now it's time to sew each of the side panels together. It was tough for me to get a picture of this. Basically, if you fold the bottom panel into sort of a triangle, it's a bit easier to put the side panels together to sew.
Once all the sides are sewn, you have something that is starting to resemble a box!
I pressed each side seam open, and if I had been thinking properly, I would have trimmed the seam down to a quarter inch. So do as I say, not as I do, and trim that seam!
The lining of the fabric bin is constructed almost exactly the same way, except leaving a space between a side and bottom panel for turning.
These seams were pressed open also.
OK - It's the home stretch! Now insert the lining into the outer box, right sides together. Pushing into each corner and lining up each side seam.
I started with a pin in each corner, lining up the seams, and a pin between each corner to keep the lining in place
Then sew around the top with a half inch seam.
My favorite part - turning! Use the gap in the bottom of the lining to pull the fabric bin right sides out!
Ta-Dah!
A good press around the top and look - it's a fabric bin! You can top stitch around the top at this point, but I didn't. The turning gap in the lining can be handstitched closed at your leisure!
I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I am pretty excited about our robot themed room and am looking forward to sharing pics of it. Please stop back by!
Later Skaters,
Janimal
Looks great, and I think Shane and Delilah sound terrific together, sort of a Wild West flavor! Hope everything's coming along well. -- Sarvi from the O+S boards.
ReplyDeleteI have been looking for an easy to follow tutorial for fabric bins. Thanks! I can finally sew some drawer dividers for my dresser.
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