Casserole Carrier Project

I haven't posted a sewing post for some time, but I have been sewing and crafting - The Christmas surprises had to wait to appear!

So here is a first...Two posts in one day:  one Feast - one Fabric!

My daughter has recently become a "real grownup" with her own apartment, job, etc...and so she was in the need of some real kitchen supplies.  We got a great deal on a pyrex set for Christmas and I decided to make her a casserole carrier to go with it.  

I made this from some fabric left from a short and top outfit I made for the girls when they were little.

I used the tutorial by 2LittleHooligans with a few modifications.  

Pyrex has decided to change the design of their rectangular bakers by adding handles that stick out like wings.  Although a great idea for getting the dishes out of the oven, it was problematic when calculating the dimensions with existing tutorials.  

My solution...Add a band to the inside fold to add a few more inches to fit over the "wings."

See the coordinating band - About 3 or 4 extra inches there...

The other change that I made to the directions was to the handles.  The directions have you sew and then turn them.  I know better than to try to turn a 2-inch wide, 40-inch long tube filled with batting , but I tried it anyway...

Never try to make handles by turning them!

Here's the result...A lumpy mess that got stuck half-way through and refused to finish turning!  I spent a couple frustrating hours trying to make this work before I did it the way I know how to do it.







What I ended up doing is cutting the handle in one piece and adding 2 pieces of fusible batting along the center fold.

Fold it down the center and press and then fold over the seams allowances on the edges and top stitch on both sides.





Nice neat handles...No frustration!














No turning bulking, batting-filled narrow tubes!















I pretty much followed the rest of the tutorial as it was written and it all went right together.  My daughter was thrilled with her new carrier!  

I especially love the spoon holder!