Welcome to Whim Wham's Craft Blog!

I love to craft, sew, knit, crochet, needle felt...ect. Unfortunately, no one around me shares this passion. So, I am branching out into cyber world, hoping to connect with a few crazy...I mean crafty people like me. Enjoy! :)







Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Travel Tissue Cover Tutorial

travel tissue cover

Today was the last day of Jam Junction (an after school program my daughter liked going to at our church).  She really liked going and is bummed that it's ending for the year.  So to thank the Pastor and all the volunteers for the fun she has had, I decided to make little "Bless You" travel tissue covers for her to give as gifts.  I am sure there are plenty of tutorials out there on how to make these, but I am going to share my version anyway. =)

I made them with 2 different fabrics- 6" x 7"outer fabric and 6"x 8" lining fabric.  These dimensions will give you a 1/4" border around the opening.  If you want more lining fabric to show, creating a thicker border, cut the lining fabric bigger and the outer fabric smaller.  For example- for a 1/2" border, cut a 6" x 6 1/2" outer and a 6" x 8 1/2" lining.  Another option is to put all of the lining fabric to one end, creating a wide border only on that end (making that the side you use when you overlap the ends). Confused yet???  Maybe some pictures will help!

I made 4 covers with a 1/4" border. (as you will see by the multiple covers in the photos)

First, cut out 1 outer and 1 lining fabric.  With the right sides facing together, sew along the 6" side on both ends with a 1/4" seam allowance (the lining fabric will be kind of bunched up in the middle).  Once you have sewn both ends, turn right side out and iron. (Here is where you can either put a 1/4" border on each side, or 1/2" border all to one side.  I chose to put 1/4" on each side).


The next step is optional, but sure makes the cover look a lot nicer.  It's time to embellish it!  I chose to use decorative stitches on my sewing machine.  I chose a flower pattern with the words "Bless You" (since these are for our church).  I know not everyone has a decorative stitch option, but instead you could sew on some ribbon, ric rac, appliqué, buttons, hand embroider it, or just sew some zigzags!  Anything you want!


Now that your cover is embellished, it is time to finish sewing it together.  Find the center and overlap the borders on that center line (not overlapping more than 1/4").  Make sure to put the side you want to show more of, on the top (for example- I put the "Bless You" side on the top).  Here is where you would also overlap the one sided border on top, if you chose to put all of the lining fabric to one side.
We are going to make a french seam, so we will be sewing it together how the finished cover is going to look.  Sew very close to the edges- about 1/8" seam allowance. Do this on both ends.  Trim and cut any stray threads, then turn the cover inside out (use a chopstick to push the corners out nice ).  We are going to be enclosing our seam to give the cover a nice smooth lining.  Sew another seam (a little over 1/8") enclosing the raw edge of our previous seam, like in th photos below. Do this on both ends.


Turn the cover right side out again and fill with a pack of travel tissue (Our Wal-Mart sells them in the travel sample isle, 3 packs for $1).   Be even more eco friendly and fill it with washable hankies! =)

These travel tissue covers make a great quick gift idea for almost anyone!  I hope you enjoy making them as much as I do!

travel tissue cover

As always all questions and comments are welcome! =)

7 comments:

  1. Haha. Bless you ... Thanks for the tutorial, I would never have thought of it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the comments Thea!
    Cora loves giving people presents. These little gifts were super easy to make and really well received. I just hope I can come up with something clever next year too, or everyone is going to have a closet full of travel kleenex covers! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing a wonderful tutorial! I would love to make one for myself.

    ReplyDelete
  4. really pretty tissue covers - i have a gorgeous crochted one a friend made for me over 8 years ago ;)...are you on Ravelry?..Im just asking as you say in your header you are interested in knitting and crochet and in this day and age everyone seems to be on there..its worth a look if you're not :)
    https://www.ravelry.com/account/login

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Val. I actually am on Ravelry as whimwham. I haven't had much time to look around there, knit, or crochet though, but thanks for reminding me to check it out again. I have stacks of yarn begging to become something useful! =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great tutorial. I am going to put a velcrow (I think that's how you spell it)to close it up and call it a purse.

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  7. Thank you for the tutorial. But, Oh dear! I've made a few of these and, in my haste, only now spotted that you overlap the edges in the middle! Never mind, they still looked good, and do the job. I will change it on the next one.
    I added a wrist strap to mine as I find it is easier to grasp, and then pull it out of my bag.
    Thanks again for the idea.
    Barbara xx

    ReplyDelete

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