Pitcher Family Adventures: Appliance Covers

I am one of those woman who has a ton of different kitchen appliances sitting out on my counter. I love the convenience of having my juicer, my coffee machine, my toaster, and so many other appliances all over my counters. I end up putting a lot of them in cupboards and in the pantry to save on kitchen counter space, but I love having the kitchen counter looking clean. Sometimes having the appliances out makes the counters look cluttered and dirty. My simple solution was to make covers and just let the pretty fabric distract your eye from the cluttered appliances on the counter. On top of that, the cover keeps my appliances clean and free of dust while I am not using them. (Here in New Mexico we get a lot of dust storms, and even with double windows, we still get dirt inside the house).

When I was a little girl my mother had a fabric cover for our toaster. I always thought it was so dated and just silly to have such a thing over an appliance you use often. I personally did not get it. Now, as an adult I look back at that cover and it brings back so many childhood memories. The kitchen where I grew up and spent many hours cooking, baking and even crafting with my mother and friends. I hope my children have such memories as I did, and such a small thing (like an appliance cover) that triggers those memories. The cover just brings back so much more for me then it just being an appliance cover. So with that I give you the appliance tutorial:

What you will need for this project:
*fabric (I purchased enough for my 3 appliance covers, and a little extra just in case. Be sure to measure before you purchase.)
*measurements of your appliance(s) (add seam allowance)
*cording (optional)
*interface (thick and iron on)
*your essentials (machine, cutting board, scissors, thread....)

To start I measured all sides of the appliance, and added the seam allowance I needed. I also added about an inch to the bottom of all the fabric pieces that go around the sides (for the hem).

I then cute all 5 pieces with the seam allowance added on.

Once you have them cut out, cut the original sizes (with out the seam allowance) out of the interface.

Then iron the interface onto each fabric piece, remember it goes onto the back/wrong side of the fabric. Follow the directions on the interface for iron on.

Once thats done, you will need to cut strips of fabric for the cording. I cut 2 inches of a matching brown fabric.

You will need to sew all those strips together to make one long strip. First lay the two strips one on top of the other making an L shape.

Then sew them together going from the top right corner to the bottom left corner.

Then cut the extra off the square you just sewed. Then open the seam and iron out the seams so they are flat.

I then folded the 2 inch brown fabric around the cording and using your needle setting as far to the left as possible (a zipper foot works well for this as well).

Then stitch as close to the cording as you can, sealing the cording into the folded inside of the fabric.

Once your cording is done, you can begin to put the box together. I stitched the three center pieces together, leaving the left and right panels unattached.

I then pinned the cording to the three panels that are already sewed together and then added the side panel along with the cording.

Once its pinned, I slowly and carefully stitch all three pieces together. Note: you are now creating a box shape, so the corners will be slightly challenging. When I got to the corners I stopped stitching about 1/4 of an inch from the end, then folded the corners and replaced my needle where I needed to start up again. Continue on and do the same for the other corner.

Once you have one side panel on, do the same thing to the other side panel, until you have your cover assembled.

If you added that extra inch to the bottom of your fabric, this is when you will fold a half inch around the bottom. I ironed mine to help keep it in place.