Garden Party

Design By Julie Johnson

Serging is a great alternative construction method for simple everyday items. A casserole cover, tea cozy and bun warmer are serged from coordinating quilt and home decor fabrics.

Casserole Covers

Finished Sizes
Small Cover: Fits 6 1/2 x 10 x 2-inch baking dish
Medium Cover: Fits 8 x 12 x 2-inch baking dish
Large Cover: Fits 9 x 13 1/2 x 2-inch baking dish

Materials

• 5/8 yard 44/45-inch-wide striped home decor fabric
• 44/45-inch-wide cotton fabric:
• 5/8 yard floral print
• 5/8 yard coordinating print
• 5/8 yard quilt batting or Insul-Bright
• 1/3 yard stiff interfacing
• 8 inches hook-and-loop tape
• 1 set purse handles
• Basic sewing supplies and equipment

Project Note: Fabric amounts listed are adequate to make one small, medium or large casserole cover; one tea cozy; and one bun warmer.

Cutting

From striped home decor fabric:
Referring to cutting diagram (Figure 1) for small, medium or large cover, cut one piece for top.
Cut two 2 1/4 x 14-inch rectangles for loops.

From cotton fabric:
Referring to same cutting diagram, cut one piece from either the floral or the coordinating print for liner.

From batting:
Referring to same cutting diagram, cut one piece.

From stiff interfacing:
For small cover, cut one 10 x 6-inch rectangle.
For medium cover, cut one 12 x 7 1/2-inch rectangle.
For large cover, cut one 13 1/2 x 8 1/2-inch rectangle.

From hook-and-loop tape:
Cut a length 3-4 inches shorter than front flap.

Assembly

1.	Using temporary spray adhesive, lightly spray wrong side of top. Adhere stiff interfacing in center (Figure 1). Press batting onto wrong side of top over interfacing. With right sides together, layer top and liner.
2.	Using a 4-thread overlock, serge all three layers along ends of each of the four flaps (Figure 2). Turn right side out. Press serged seams.
3.	Fold corner seams and serge either from corner end to front flap or from front flap to corner so that the front flaps have the top side of serging showing on the home decor fabric side (Figure 3).
4.	Position hook-and-loop tape centered along front flap closure. Using a sewing-machine straight stitch, sew in place.
5.	Fold loop rectangles wrong sides together. Use a 4-thread overlock to serge the lengths. Press with seam to the middle back. Cut into four equal lengths.
6.	Using purse handles as guide for placement, center loops on each side of cover (Figure 4). Fold ends of loops to hide raw edges. Straight-stitch to attach to casserole cover. Insert ends of handles in loops.

Bun Warmer

Finished Size
13 1/2 inches in diameter

Materials

• 44/45-inch-wide cotton fabric:
• 1/2 yard large print
• 1/2 yard small print
• 1 cone woolly nylon thread for rolled edge
• 3 snaps
• Basic sewing supplies and equipment

Cutting
From large-print cotton fabric:
Cut three 13 1/2-inch-diameter circles.

From small-print cotton fabric:
Cut three 13 1/2-inch-diameter circles.

Bun Warmer Assembly

1.	With wrong sides together, match a large print fabric circle with a small print fabric circle to make three circle sets. Set serger for rolled-edge finish with woolly nylon in the upper looper. Use a rolled edge to finish outside edges of each set.
2.	Fold one circle set in half. Lightly press. Mark circle into thirds using the pressed line as a guide (Figure 5). Straight-stitch two circle sets together across the diameters.
3.	Using stitching lines as guides, mark the middle of each triangle in the stitched circle sets (Figure 6). Pin remaining circle set to this line. Straight-stitch down the middle of each triangle for about 3 inches.
4.	To the right of every third straight stitch on the top circle, sew one male snap side. To the left of every third straight stitch on the top circle, sew one female snap side (Figure 7). To close, pull snap across to meet adjacent snap.

Tea Cozy

Finished size
7 1/2 x 12 inches at base

Materials

• 44/45-inch-wide cotton fabric:
• 1/2 yard large print
• 1/2 yard small print
• 1/2 yard quilt batting or Insul-Bright
• 2 (5/8-inch) buttons
• Basic sewing supplies and equipment

Cutting
From large-print cotton fabric:
Use tea cozy template to cut four pieces for top.

From small-print cotton fabric:
Use tea cozy template to cut four pieces for liner.
Cut one 2-inch strip the width of the fabric for edge tape.

From batting or Insul-Bright:
Use tea cozy template to cut four pieces.

Assembly

1.	Layer two top pieces, right sides together, and one batting piece on each side, matching side seams. Using a 4-thread overlock and a 1/4-inch seam allowance, serge side seams together (Figure 8).
2.	Repeat with remaining top pieces and all four lining pieces. Press fabric open. Serge remaining raw side seam edges (Figure 9).
3.	With right sides together, pin top units together along seam from front to back marks (Figure 10). Straight-stitch using 1/2-inch seam allowance. Press. Repeat on lining unit.
4.	Place top unit and lining unit with right sides together. Pin front and back openings. Straight-stitch, using 1/2-inch seam allowance (Figure 11). Lightly press. Turn cozy to right side and press. Serge bottom raw edges together.
5.	Fold 2-inch-wide strip wrong sides together and press. Fold raw edges to center crease and press. Fold tape in half for centering and mark.
6.	Unfold tape to expose one raw edge length. Butt front tea cozy pieces together and match to center mark of tape. With right sides together, pin from center mark along the bottom edge of the tea cozy to back. Straight-stitch tape to tea cozy.
7.	Fold tape around lower serged edge of tea cozy. Pin into place and straight-stitch from edge to edge. Tie a knot at each end of tape.
8.	Sew buttons inside and outside tea cozy where four points meet at top.

Click on the template for a printable PDF version.

Copyright © April 2008 Serge Smart. All Rights Reserved.