Labor day is right around the corner and that means picnics and getting in those last days at the beach or pool before they close for the season. We’ve been doing a lot of picnicking now that we’ve moved and are in the middle of a big, whole house renovation and don’t have a full kitchen yet. I realized I need a carrier for my smaller casserole dish so I can hang it from my elbow and carry it to the table while holding other things in my hands. Most of the time it’s just full of cut up fruit but I insulated it for times when I want to bring something warm somewhere (like baby potatoes to eat with our smoked salmon when we hike up to a lake to celebrate Midsommar, for example). There is no pattern but there is some “mathing” involved.
Materials Needed:
- 1 yard main print in quilting cotton (more or less is needed depending on the size of your dish)
- 1 yard lining print in quilting cotton (more or less is needed depending on the size of your dish)
- 1/4 yard strap print (can be the same or different as either your main or your lining print)
- 1 yard Insul-fleece (it’s in with the interfacings at the store and has the shiny silver side)
- fusible interfacing (I use what’s on hand)
- 2 snaps or a short length of hook and loop tape
Instructions:
Measure your dish. Mine is 10x7x3. I eyeballed it but wrapped my measuring tape around the width of the dish and overlapped it by about 2/3 on the top. I got approximately 25 inches with the overlap. Then measure around the length of the dish while overlapping about 2/3 of the way and got a measurement of about 30 inches. Cut your main print, your lining print and your insul-fleece to your measurements (my rectangle is 25×30).
Then you want to cut 4 squares out of the corners of your fabrics. You do this by taking the width measurement of your dish and subtract it from the width measurement of your fabric then divide by 2. This is the width measurement of your corner square. Repeat that for your length measurements. Now cut out those corners. You’ll be left with a squished plus sign.
If you did your calculations correctly, your dish will sit nicely in the center of that plus sign.
Lay your Insul-fleece down on the table (I like silver side down) and then place your main print right side up and then finally, the lining fabric right side down on top of everything.
Sew across the top of the left “arm” of the plus sign, along all three sides of the “head” of the plus sign and then along the top of the right “arm.” Repeat for the bottom half. You’ll leave the leftmost and right most edges open and unsewn.
Clip your corners! Turn this right side out and press everything nice and flat.
Let’s address the 2 edges that are still raw. You can always fold everything in and simply topstitch but I know that this is the edge that is going to be constantly touched and messed with so I made little touchpoints for the longer flaps. Cut a rectangle of fabric that’s 1 inch longer than the raw edge by about 3 inches. Fold in half, press, then fold each long edge up by 1/4″ and press again. I also cut a strip of interfacing that’s 1 1/4″ wide to nestle in there as well to give it a bit of body.
Wrap your binding around the raw edge, covering the sides of your flap.
Topstitch this down, making sure all your raw edges are tucked in, nice and neat.
You can leave this as is and your dish will travel okay-ish but I like to go ahead and add 2 snaps to the binding of the top flap and the coordinating spots on the other long flap that will rest below it. This will make sure everything stays in place without shifting or falling away.
You’ll also want straps!
Cut 2 strips the length of the fabric by 3.” Using the same technique that you did with the binding for the flaps, fold and press. Topstitch down each side of both straps.
Determine how long you want your straps to be. I wanted them long enough to hang from the crook of my arm but not so long that the dish will swing around all willy nilly while I walk so mine are about 25″ long.
I quickly sewed the 2 straps together into a long hula hoop type configuration and centered them on the bottom of the carrier. I sewed them into place only in that center section but you can go up the side slightly if you wish.
VOILA! You just made a casserole carrier in less than an hour!