Scrap Swap 2017: Reversible Bowl Covers
/Hi there! I’m Laura from Stitches by Laura and I am happy to be sharing my scrap project with you today. Thanks to Maryanna for some fabulous and fun fabrics to work with!
My niece recently asked me to make her a cover for her “watermelon bowl.” I laughed, but she really was serious so I decided to practice with my swap scraps. I can use a few bowl covers. I mean, there’s got to be a small bowl of chocolate that I don’t necessarily want to share around here somewhere. I even made a smaller one that fit perfectly on my cup--No flies will come near my sweet tea! ;)
I decided I would work on a few different sizes AND shapes--Yes, these are great for square, oval, or odd-shaped bowls that may not have come with lids.
All you need are two pieces of fabric. (Or make your own--more on that later.)
The easiest way to get started is to roughly trace a bowl, allowing 2-3 inches extra all the way around. I marked straight on the wrong side of the fabric to save time. Square bowl? No problem, just keep it a little rounded at the corners and make sure to leave room for the casing!
Now layer your second piece of fabric, right sides together, and cut out your circles.
Stitch around the edge, making sure to leave a gap to turn your bowl cover right sides out. (Pin or clip if you need to, they stayed together for me.) I used a seam allowance around ¼.” Feel free to use a larger seam allowance if you need to.
Turn your piece right sides out and press well. You may find it useful to use a blunt object to push the seam out so that it lies flat for pressing.
Make sure you press under the seam allowance at the turning gap.
Stitch all the way around your bowl cover about ¾” - 1” from the edge. A seam gauge really helps keep your stitches even!
For the elastic, you can either measure your bowl or insert elastic and “try on” the bowl cover after inserting elastic. (I used a safety pin to run my elastic through the casing I made with the two rows of stitching.)
Overlap the edges of the elastic and stitch together. Close the turning gap with a row of topstitching close to the edge, continuing all the way around the bowl cover if you wish.
All finished! Wasn’t that easy? If you would like to spice things up a little, you can “create” your own fabric!
The easiest way to do this is to cut strips of fabric 1”-2” wide and sew the strips (long edges) together until you have created a piece of fabric large enough to trace your bowl/cut your circles.
I like to use a method that reminds me of crazy quilts.
Take that pile you have leftover from making the strippy cover (or just grab some fabric! ;)).
Sew a few pieces together and press flat. When you don’t have any more straight edges, it’s time to get out the rotary cutter or scissors and make sure that you have at least one straight edge to stitch to.
Keep adding bits of fabric until you have enough to cut your bowl covers and sew from there!
I had lots of fun making all of these different reversible bowl covers. I hope you will, too!
Happy sewing!!
Learn how to use your scraps to make these eco-friendly and fun fabric reversible bowl covers.