Let's Sew Easy Covers!

You are most likely here because I wanted to share a very simple way to make some cute covers for your bowls and cups, and whatever else you'd like to cover!

Let's begin, shall we?

First, finding cute fabric does not have to be daunting. While online stores like Etsy, Fabric Store have lots of options, I usually like taking a trip to Hobby Lobby or Joanns (this is a special treat because it takes almost 40 minutes to get there but they have the most beautiful fabric)

and seeing visually what the fabric looks like but most importantly, how it feels. Is it thick? Is it stretchy? Will it pull apart easily? Will it be sturdy when washed a lot? Is it 💯 linen? Is it 💯 cotton? Is it a cotton/linen blend? Is it organic linen?

Once I find some fabric (also look in the clearance section! They sometimes have gingham and other beautiful fabric for sale because they are seasonal)

I take it home and wash it and dry it. This way the fabric won't shrink unexpectedly when washed again.

1. Have these tools ready. It's all you need. You can use whatever you have on hand too. Sometimes I don't use a ruler to be honest. Whatever looks like 2.5" to 3" works quite well. A nice pair of cutting scissors or rotary cutter (I'm not very experienced in using it quite yet) with a cutting mat should work as well. A pen or something to mark the circle with. Pins for sure! Fabric, iron, and of course, the lady of the show, a sewing machine. NOT PICTURED THAT WILL YOU NEED AS WELL: elastic (I like to get a lot of it usually wrapped up because I dont like measuring how much I need) , safety pin.

2. I would say about 45" fabric piece or 1/2 yard or even 1 yard if you want to make a lot of covers is a good size to have ready.

Flip your fabric with right sides facing together before you begin! Fold your fabric in half so you have 2 fabric pieces to cut through but make sure the right sides are facing each other. (Right sides means the side of the fabric that has the boldest print. The wrong side is the backside of the fabric you don't want to see.) You will be marking and working on the wrong side first.

3. The next step is to get your bowl, or cup, or whatever you'd like to use the cover on, and place it flat on the fabric. Leave enough space around the bowl all around evenly, about 2 1/2" to 3" out. If you see the image above, I am taking my ruler and marking up the distance from the bowl to the outer edge of about 2.5". Make sure when you are marking that your ruler is always in the same position around the bowl and you're marking out in the same area on the ruler. (Message me if you need help with this. I didn't have a chance to make a good video of it and can show you!)

I would make as many marks out as possible so when you cut it, you can connect the dots and not guess where the next round to cut is.

4. Cut the fabric evenly all around the bowl where you measured 2.5 or 3" out. (I hope this makes sense 🙈)

After you cut the circle out you should have 2 pieces of circle fabric with right sides facing each other on the inside.

5. Next, you can see how there are lines. IRON IT.

Make it as smooth as possible. Keep that iron near you.

6. Next, you're going to pin this. NORTH. SOUTH. EAST. WEST.

And then you're going to pin it NW, SW, NE, SE, SW, etc. Like so:

OK!

7. Next, you are going to mark your opening. This all seems tedious but trust me. You will most likely forget to NOT sew that opening if you don't mark it. 😁 and pinning is absolutely necessary to keep the fabric from slipping when sewing it.

Mark about an 1.5" or more opening. You're going to flip your fabric inside out from this hole after sewing so make sure it's big enough to do that comfortably.

8. Now we sew! If you want a professional look, making sure your thread is about the same color as your fabric is important. So, START at that opening you marked. Set your sewing machine to the least space between stitches as possible. Like a 1. And have your fabric like so on the machine (have the edge always be at the edge of the foot like in the image for the first sew around)

9. Begin stitching from that opening you marked and after stitching a little bit, backstich to reinforce that opening and then go forward again. Continue all the way around, making sure your fabric edge is always as the edge of the foot. Use that as your measurement on where to sew it.

STOP AT THE OPENING MARK when you have reached almost full circle. Aren't you glad you have that marking? Sew it, then back stitch like you did the first time you started and move forward to reinforce it but keep that opening OPEN!

10. Now, before you get excited and flip it inside out, I recommend ironing one of the edges in, BUT not necessary. You can flip it inside out now. Or iron. If you decide to iron, you're just going to take one of the edges and iron towards the inside all the way around the circle.

It will help with ironing when it's inside out, but once again, not necessary. I do this only for ones I make to gift or available for purchase because it is more cleaner looking.

11. Flip it inside out! Through that small hole you miracously left open 😄

12. Once flipped inside out, take a stick or finger and go around the edges and push those edges out more. You're going to iron it again to flatten the edges.

13. Iron all the edges on the circle as flat as you can! Push out the edges if you need to for a smooth circle edge.

Also, you will need to iron that opening! You will crease the opening to the same edge of the circle fabric. When you go to sew it closed, it will already be seam pressed and you won't have to guess how to close it.

14. Next, you're going to sew again.

This time, place the edge of your fabric on this measurement as shown in picture and you may change your stretch or spacing between stitches to 2 if you'd like to save on thread.

So, basically at the farthest right measurement (1/8) is where you will keep your fabric as you sew around in a circle. You will not need to worry about an opening here! Just sew all the way around until you reach where you started to close it up.

15. Ok. So, grab your elastic. We are almost done you guys! Put your safety pin through one of your elastic ends like this:

16. Now you're going to shimmey it through the hole/opening you made all the way around!

17. Once you've made it all the way around, you're going to open your safety pin and connect it to the other end.

18. Now you're going to test it on the bowl or circumference of what you are using the cover for by placing the cover over it to make sure the elastic is not too tight, or too lose.

Fits nicely!

19. Ok, looks like 19 steps is a lot but I promise, we are a few steps from being done.

Now that you know it fits, you can stitch the elastic together. I like to use the zig zag setting because it helps the elastic to stretch out.

This parts a little tricky. You're going to unpin the elastic, hold it together with your fingers, and to make sure it doesn't slip out of your fingers, put it under the needle of the sewing machine, and before you put your foot pedal down, hand roll that needle down first to secure it, than push the foot pedal down to stitch the rest of it. Go forward. Go backwards. Cut it!

Eek! One more step and you're done!

20. Remember that opening you ironed so nicely to fit the contour of the rest of the fabric? It's time to sew it!

First, get out of your zig zag mode and get back to the straight stitch and to 1 again

And line up that edge and stretch it out if you have to like this:

Stick it under the sewing machine (or pin it if you can't seem to keep it together) and hand roll down that first stitch and then slowly, as close to the edge as you possibly can without missing it to close it, stitch them together.

Friends, step back and admire your handiwork!

Losen up the elastic and use you're pretty cover or gift them or sell them!

I really hope you enjoyed this little post I made and it was helpful! I'll be adding a video in the near future of it but with little ones and homeschooling and keeping the house, this was the safest way to share this with you all ☺️

If you liked this, please share and subscribe here for more homemaking tips I've learned along the way. If you would like to purchase a cover, the sizes are as follows:

Small $8

Medium $12

Large $18

XL $22

3 bundle size (s,m,l) $35

Please email me at

Pulchrascript@gmail.com for fabric availability and custom orders.

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