Tool Time Tuesday...Milk Crate Cover

Milk Crate Cover for a title? I know boring. I wanted to write something clever changing "great" to crate..."Crate" Ideas or "Crate" Expectations, but just couldn't type them in the title box...who's searching for Crate Expectations in their search box?

Any who, here is a tutorial to turn those old ugly milk crates in your garage or basement into something you can actually use in your home.

This cutie...

is covering this dirty little crate that I stole from my husband. Shhh don't tell him, but his golf supplies are in a pile on the shelf in the garage.

This tutorial is a method type pattern, because all crates are different sizes. I used 1/4 inch seam allowance throughout.

First measure the bottom of the crate. Mine is 11 1/2 inches square. Add 1/2 inch for seam allowance...my final square is 12" x 12".

Measure the side from the inside of the crate, over the rim and...

Down the other side. Mine is a total of 21 inches...here I added 3/4 inch. 1/4 for one seam and 1/2 inch for hemming the bottom edge. Total for this measurement is 21 3/4 inch.

Now measure all the way around. Mine was 51 1/2 inches. Add 3/4 - 1 inch so you have a little room to fold fabric over the crate.

Any fabric works great, but Tool Time Tuesday has a touch of hardware store, so I used my drop cloth fabric I bought for $5.00. Remember this fabric from the purse I made with it? It looks like linen, but so much cheaper. Click here for the purse tutorial.

Here are your supplies...

• rectangle of fabric...the long length is the distance around the crate and the height of the fabric is the measurement from the inside and over the side.
• the square is your bottom measurement

Hem ONE long edge of the rectangle. I folded over 1/4 inch and fold over another 1/4 inch.

Sew down seam...

Fold over the rectangle, right sides together and sew the sides together on the right.

You now have a tube. Try in the crate to see if it fits before sewing the bottom in.

Put it in the crate, wrong side facing out and the hemmed edge on the top.

I match that seam to one of the corners of the crate...just for looks really.

Now fold over so hemmed edge is now at the outside bottom.

Your raw edge is on the inside.

Now to sew the bottom...First you need to find the FOUR corners.

Place tube with wrong side out, side seam on the right. Place a pin on the fold to the left where my finger is.

Now take that pin and the side seam and bring them to the middle.

close up of the first pin and the seam in the middle...

Place a pin in the left fold and...

the right fold...

Take your square from your bottom measurement...

To help you sew the corners easier, place a dot 1/4 inch down from the top and over from side. This will be your pivoting point when sewing the corners.

With RIGHT sides together, match your four pinned corners with the four corners of the square. Pin the corners first, then you will pin to ease in the extra tube fabric to the bottom square.

Here it is all pinned.

See how much fabric you have to ease in. This is where I don't care if it's perfect. It's on the inside on the bottom which will be covered with all the things you put in this crate.

Sew all the way around, pivoting at the corners. Just make sure you keep all the excess fabric away from your sewing foot as your making your way around.

Place inside the crate wrong side of fabric facing out.

Place it in and fold it over.

Done. See how I place the seam matched up with the corner. Kind of hides it there.

Add a pretty bow...

or maybe sew a band of contrasting fabric to the bottom to match your decor.

Perfect for this open cubby in the hutch. You can hide lots of junk in there.

a nice black ribbon looks good too.

This may seem like a complicated project, but I made this Monday morning before I went to work in less the 1 hour and that included making up the pattern as I was went along. Only had to rip one seam out...ggrrr.

These crates would be great for so many things...keeps things together, nice and neat and it's pretty too

• magazines
• toys
• sewing projects
• scrap booking supplies for one particular project you're working on
• reading materials by the side of your chair or bed
• kids shoes by the back door
• cute emergency kit for the trunk of your car
• sports equipment
• food pantry
• linen closet supplies

The list is endless for crates...now they're even better if the have a pretty little cover on.

Have fun with this one. If we all get together, we'll make all those ugly crates...Crate (great) to look at!!

~Karen~