Devin calls this my tackle box. And he couldn't be more right. It started out as a pretty ugly tackle box and has been renovated to a luxurious sewing box!
Here is the tutorial on how I did it:
What you will need-
Plastic box to be used as your sewing box
1/4 yard to 1/2 a yard of two different fabrics (based on size of box)
hot glue gun
thin quilting batting
decorative ribbon to match desired fabric
sewing machine and thread
I bought this ArtBin box at 40% off at JoAnns.
Then I bought some fabric that I have had my eye on. I used cotton and chose a dark color on the bottom and a busy pattern on top because I knew that this box wouldn't be just for looks and I wanted to hide as much as I could as it ages and gets some stains. I used the 40% off coupon on 1 yard of each. I didn't come close to using the 2 yards and love that I have extra for another project.
First I took off the handle on top. Then while the box was open I hot glue gunned the batting around the whole outside of the box. I stretched it thin around the corners and double glued it around the opening of the box. I cut two holes where the handle will be reconnected on the lid.
Next, I started the bottom. I can't give you measurements because you need to measure the fabric based on the tackle box that you choose. I placed the box on the fabric and cut out this shape based on how high I wanted the dark brown fabric on the bottom to come up the sides and on how tight I wanted the fabric to be on the box.
The triangles that I cut out on the corners are sewn together. If you want the bottom fabric to come up the sides a lot more than I did than your triangle cut in the corner will be cut more deeper towards the center than this picture. The tighter you want the fabric to be around the box the wider your triangle will be. If you want it to be loose then the triangles will be pretty skinny.
With the batting still glued on I measured the circumference around the box and cut a long rectangle strip out of the fabric for the rest of the sides or bottom of the box. Sew the two short sides of the long rectangle together so it is a long circle that should match up to the circumference of the fitted bottom that you previously sewed. Then I sewed the bottom to the long strip. Make sure to pin it before you sew. Here is a picture of of what the bottom half looks like. You have the seams up the corners on the bottom fabric and then the long strip sewn onto the bottom has no seams on the corners.
Then I placed the box in the cover you have made for the bottom half and glued it as close to the opening and top as I could.
Finally turn your box upside down and cut the same square shape for the top of your box based on your box measurements. Sew the triangle edges together and then glue the top around the edges just as you did on the bottom.
Cut access fabric around the opening of your box. Then glue the decorative ribbon on the top as desired. Finally glue the ribbon around the edges of the opening to hide the ugliness! Here you can see that I had to bend the ribbon and be a little flexible on some of the edges when I was gluing the ribbon on.
When it was all done I attached the handle back on and whalah! You have a beautiful sewing box.
I also glued some cute paper on the bottom of each level of my box to make the inside just as colorful and fun as the outside.
The other personal project that I have been working on is the cutest pin cushion I have ever seen. It is on the Amy Butler website. Click here for the pattern and instructions.
It has the actual pattern cut outs and really easy instructions. My only suggestion would be to make the long strip a little thicker so that when you are all done the pin cushion is thicker and you can't feel the pins on the bottom when you pick it up. It tells you to take a needle and thread the ribbon through the needle into the middle and out the bottom. Ya right. I had pretty thick ribbon and ended up squishing the middle and sewing a few stitches to make the appearance of the pattern and then I just hot glue gunned my ribbon and button on the fabric. Good luck and enjoy!
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