Materials:
- " Light weight fabric - cotton is fine
- " ¼" clear elastic
- " Thread to match or blend with fabric
Helpful but not required:
- " Serger
- " Woolly Nylon
- " Fabric Control Tool or Purple Thang
The inspiration for this project came from seeing the mountain
of wonderful plastic buckets I was building from cat litter! They
are so good and strong that I couldn't throw them away, but
they were red and of course wouldn't work with anything in
my purple room!
Procedure:
- Measure the height of your container. Add 3½" to
that measurement.
- Measure all the way around the widest part of the
container. Multiply this by 1½.
- Cut a piece of fabric this size.
- Finish one long side with a rolled edge and Wooly Nylon
if you have a serger. (Try a similar technique on the sewing
machine with a zig zag stitch on the edge, or use the
Satin Edge Foot by Creative Feet, or use your rolled hem
foot on the machine.)
- Stretch the elastic first to get the memory working. (The
elastic's, not yours!) Snug the elastic around the
top edge of your container, and cut it that size. Quarter
both your clear elastic (mark it with a marker) and your fabric.
Move in about 1½" from your finished edge and
attach the elastic to the wrong side. Use a normal zig zag
or a stitch that will encase the elastic, anchor it at
the beginning, and pull to match your marks. Anchor it at the
end also. You might find the Purple Thang or Fabric
Control Tool helpful in guiding your elastic and fabric.
- Stretch more elastic to activate the memory, and then
stretch it tightly around the bottom of your container. Serge
or zig zag the elastic to the edge of the other long
sides, quartering as in step 5.
- Sew the side seam.
The bottom elastic goes under the container, and the top can
stay around the rim, or just above. If there's a handle, you
can make a matching ruffled cover for the handle. You could also
decorate the cover by covering it with matching fabric. There are
so many durable containers that we need to recycle them and keep
them useful.
|
