Instructions To Sew A Casserole Tote Carrier Or Cozy

These casserole totes are great for taking your food to potlucks, Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas lunch, family gatherings, or anything that you need to take a covered dish or a casserole to. There are so many wonderful cotton fabrics out there to choose from that you could really get creative and stylish with your new casserole cozy. Be the envy of the potluck with your fabric choices. These make great gifts as well for Christmas. If you are in a bunco group then it would also be great for taking a hot dish to bunco or using as a bunco gift. Below I will be explaining to you step by step with photos just exactly how to make one of these casserole covers. Happy Sewing!!!

 To start your project here are a list of the things you will need:
1 yard of your favorite print cotton fabric (at least 45” wide)
1 yard of a coordinating solid color cotton fabric (at least 45” wide)
1 yard of cotton batting (or your choice of batting, fusible fleece, or the heat insulation type of    batting) at least 45” wide 
1 yard of ribbon, any width you like, that will coordinate with your fabric choice (NOT
wired ribbon)
2 pieces of ½ inch diameter wooden unpainted dowel rod cut ten inches long
1 spool of thread in a color that coordinates with your fabric choice
 

Cut 2 pieces of print fabric 14 inches wide by 41 inches long. 
Cut 2 pieces of solid fabric 14 inches wide by 41 inches long
Cut 2 pieces of batting 14 inches wide by 41 inches long

You will then lie 1 batting on the table first, then 1 printed fabric face up, then 1 solid 
color fabric face down on top of the printed fabric. Make sure all your edges are 
even, then carefully pin the layers together so they do not shift while sewing. Repeat this 
again exactly for the other three pieces of fabric. You will now have two stacks pinned
together. Are you still with me at this point?  Great, so far so good!

 Now take one of the stacks and fold it in half lengthwise Then take your tape measure
and starting from the crease measure 2 inches in and 4 inches down. 
Cut that out on the crease and you will have a four inch square opening where your
handles will later be. ( be sure you only do this on one of the stacks not, the first time I had a little oopsie and did it wrong!)
Take the stack with the handles, unfold it, and start sewing the three panels together using a ½ inch seam allowance. Don't worry we will fold down some of the fabric to make a place for the wooden dowels to slip into later. Sew around leaving a 4-5 inch opening on one side of the panels for turning the fabric inside out. before turning the fabric inside out clip the inside corners of the handles so that the fabric won’t bunch up when turned inside out.Now turn your fabric inside out (don’t forget to take out all your pins first!) You will will now top stitch around the casserole carrier. This will be the part of your casserole carrier that has the handles and the other stack of fabric that you didn't cut a square out of will be your bottom base of your casserole tote. You will perform the same steps to that stack of fabric except NOT cut the handle out of it. 
Now you should have your two stacks of fabric sewn together and turned right side out and top stitched all the way around.

Now you are ready to put the two panels together to form what will be your awesome casserole tote. Place the panel with the handles on the bottom(printed side down)and 
the second panel on top across the center of the bottom one(print side down also)  to form a plus sign + it will look like the picture below. Using the edges of the fabric as a guide sew the two panels together. One row of stitching was sewn on the inside panel and one row of stitching was sewn on the outside panel. Now, Take the yard of ribbon and cut it exactly in half. Fold and edge of the ribbon under and sew onto the bottom center end of the panel without tabs. The fold the other half of the panel over to the center and sew the other ribbon onto the top of the panel right at where the fold would be. 
Now for the handles! Take your wooden dowel and place it on the handle tab folding the fabric tab over the top of the dowel so that it fits loosely over the dowel so that you can take the dowel in and out easily when you take it out for washing your cover. Pin the fabric down and take the dowel out. Do this same thing for all the handle tabs. Then sew the tab starting from the top outside edge down and across, leaving the inside opening to slide the dowel into.
Now that you are done sewing your little dowel pocket you can slide your dowel into it
and you are finished. You can easily remove the dowel for washing your cover. Wash
your cover in cool water and tumble dry low, remove promptly and iron if needed, never
wash with the wooden dowel still inside.