I am lost without storage boxes, but the harsh white color leaves much to be imagined. I want my sewing room to be inspirational, not a Staples warehouse. I've seen some beautiful storage furniture online, but either they're too expensive or they lack personality. Thankfully, there is an easy and fun way to give your sewing storage a facelift. Yup, you guessed it: fabric! The possibilities are endless with this project and you can adjust anything to fit your style and time frame. In this tutorial, I have included a no-sew method and a quilted method. We aren't just putting fabric on a tissue box, we are adding fabric to containers with drawers and making it look great! Don't feel limited to just fabric. You can throw in some paint and fun notions. Add trim and beads. This is an opportunity to get really creative and bring out your inner artiste. Let's start with, what I like to call, the Quilted-Storage-Appearance-Enhancer.
Supplies
Storage container Super Glue Amount of fabric that is appropriate for your container size. You're probably going to need at least 1/2 a yard. Quality embroidery thread Walking Foot Basting spray Batting Needle Size appropriate for your material. I used a 110/18 Leather needle. Ruler scissors or rotary cutter and mat Decorative Buttons Hand sewing needle and thread (I used monofilament thread to sew the buttons) Step 1 First, we need to measure the surface we intend to cover. I want to cover the front of the storage drawers. For this project, I'm sticking to just flat surfaces because the fabric I'm using doesn't fold over corners well. At least not well enough for me to do it easily. And I'm all about easy projects. If your measurements land on an unfamiliar ruler dash, don't freak out. Mine did too. We don't want to round up or down, because we want the fabric to match perfectly. You can mark the measurement with some tape to make cutting faster.
Step 2 Add an inch to the width and length measurement and cut.
Generally, when you use a rotary cutter and mat, you can cut many layers at a time. However, because the fabric I used is a little difficult, I just cut one at a time. I used the first piece to trace the other pieces. It's much faster than lining back up and measuring again.
Step 3 On the wrong side of the fabric, trace a line 1 inch in from the edge. This is going to help us with the hem. You can't use pins on this fabric, so instead we are using the line as a guide for our hem. To demonstrate this, I drew two lines. The first line is 1/2 an inch from the edge. This is where the fold will be. The other line, which is 1 inch from the edge, will be what we line the fold up with on our machine. So, while you are sewing, you will fold the edge over to line up with the 1 inch line.
Step 4 When you are ready to sew on the machine, make sure you have your walking foot installed if you are using any pleather or vinyl fabric. Sew a 1/4 inch hem . You'll have to use your fingers to make sure the fold over is matching up with the line you drew.
Step 5 Use your Basting Spray Adhesive to attach batting to the wrong side of the face fabric. The basting spray ensures nothing will move around while you are quilting.
Step 6 Draw 1 inch parallel lines at a 30 degree angle on the back of the batting. Repeat in the opposite direction.
Step 7 Using your Walking Foot, quilt all the lines you drew. Make sure your embroidery thread is in the bobbin so it will show up on the right side of the fabric.
Step 8 Grab your buttons! Place one button in the center of the fabric. Place a button 2 inches from the center on each side.
You can get a little more creative with your buttons, if you like.
Step 9 Wipe any dirt or dust off the drawer with a damp cloth, then wipe dry. Apply Super Glue to one edge of the storage container at a time. This makes it easier to see if everything is lined up correctly.
Step 10 Repeat for how many storage drawers are on your container.
Continue this tutorial for the sides and top of your storage container to get an all around fabulous piece of furniture. Now, let's take a look at the no sew version! Supplies Storage Container Amount of fabric to fit the box. Better to buy more to be on the safe side Super Glue Spray Glue Decorative Scrapbook paper Ruler Scissors Paper Scissors Marking Tool Step 1 To add fabric to all sides of you box, first make sure you have enough fabric. If you can tilt the box over on its side and still have fabric hanging over, you're good. First, place the box in the middle of the fabric and trace the entire square shape.
Step 2 Tip the box over on its side and trace again. Extend the trace about 1 inch past the end of the box so that the material will be able to flip over the edge later.
Step 3 Repeat on the other side.
Step 4 With the box back in the center, flip it forward and move it over a 1/2 inch on each side and trace. This is so that when we go to wrap it, the extra width can wrap around the corner.
With the box removed, you can see the chalk marks.
It should look like this when you cut it all out.
Step 5 Spray the first front panel (the one with an extra 1/2 on the side) with spray glue and smooth it up the side and around the corners.
Repeat on the back panel. Step 6 Spray the side panels and smooth it up onto the box. Try to line the raw edges up exactly with the corners.
Step 7 Trim off any excess fabric so that you only need to turn 1/2 inch of fabric under the edges.
Step 8 Use super glue to secure the folded fabric under the edge.
Step 9 To add decorative paper to the face of the drawers, you first need to measure the following:
Step 10 Use your ruler to draw your measurements onto the decorative paper. You will need to cut a slit halfway down the center. The opening makes it easy to add the paper to the drawer. If your drawer doesn't have a knob, you won't need the slit.
Step 11 Use super glue along the edges to attach the paper to the drawer.
Step 12 Repeat for all the drawers and you will be completely finished!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please feel free to share your pictures of this project in the comment section!
