Fabric tray tutorial 布トレイ作りかた

Few of my blog readers asked me to do a tutorial on my projects that I made so far, so I decided to give it a try today...  A fabric tray tutorial :)

I'll do my best to be clear and precise, but if any of the instructions are not clear enough, just let me know.  After all, this is still my second  sewing tutorial ever in my whole 40 something life...   Ha ha!

Okay, here we begin!

What you need:

• One rectangle 10.5″ x 8.5" in main fabric (I used Japanese print)
• One rectangle 10.5″ x 8.5" in backing fabric (I used linen)
• One rectangle 10.5″ x 8.5" of your preferred batting (cotton, fleece, etc. I used regular fleece here)
• Several strands of embroidery floss
• Spray adhesive (optional, only if you are using non-adhesive batting like me)
• Ruler and a marking pencil
• Sewing machine

Directions:

1. Fuse the batting to the back side of the main fabric (outer fabric) with iron, or if you are using non-adhesive batting like me, use spray adhesive to glue the batting (fleece shown here) to the back side of the main fabric.

2.  Then, lay the main fabric and the backing fabric with WRONG sides facing, then sandwich the batting in between the main fabric and the backing fabric. 

3. Pin all four sides securely.

4.  Set your sewing machine to the zig zag stitch.  Try to make the space between each zig zag as narrow as possible.   

5. Begin sewing all four edges of the three layers of rectangles with zig zag stitch.  If you have a overlocker, rolled hem stitches work great, too.

6. After you've sewn all four edges, flip the rectangle over to the back side.  Using a ruler and a marking pencil,  draw four lines  1.25 inches from each sides.

7. Using your sewing machine, sew the inner rectangle, based on the lines you just drew with the marking pencil.

8.  Flip over the rectangle to the main side and squeeze one corner like this.

9. Using few strands of embroidery floss, handstitch the corners together along the stitching lines.    Use the the marked lines of both sides as a guide.   Repeat all corners.

10.  Tada!  It's done!

These fabric trays can be made into any shape.  For instance, I've made a tray to fit our kids' playing cards like this before.

The fabric tray will be a good place to keep your eye glasses and accessories, too...

Or, for another option, instead of sewing together all corners, you can apply snaps to make a fabric tray that lays flat when not in use. 

This beautifully patchworked tray is handmade by my dear blog friend, Sunnysidey, who was generous enough to kindly sew this up and  ship it to me from Aussie as a gift!  As you can see, she attached snap buttons on all four corners of the tray.

 Snap buttons applied at one corner

(Sam, to this day, I use your tray almost everyday at my sewing table! Thanks for the wonderful gift ;)

Well, if you happen to make fabric trays from this tutorial, please let me know.  I'd be thrilled to see yours!!  Thanks for reading and hope you all have a great weekend :)

*** This tutorial is for personal use only please!! ***