Keep fabric remnants & try this DIY

Cool craft ideas abound if you have a box full of fabric remnants. Because they can be kaleidoscopic in their variety, pick a few scraps that please you and craft this clever DIY bedside organizer. The idea behind the organizer is to equip it with four pockets, which are large enough to stow anything you might need as you settle in for a night of reading, listening to podcasts, or whatever fits in with your PJ-clad pleasure.
The organizer is backed with slip-proof fabric so it stays put, and it can hold necessities such as books, a granola bar or two, and earbuds. Customize the organizer by choosing different fabrics that go with your bedroom’s color scheme, varied patterns for a crazy quilt effect, or all solids for a modern color block motif. This project will prove to be a winner as you settle into bed, especially if you’re not ready to go to sleep just yet.
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Materials
- Fabric remnants
- Cutting mat
- Rotary cutter
- Ruler
- Thin cotton batting
- Scissors
- Invisible ink fabric marker
- Straight pins
- Mini clips
- Sewing machine and thread
- Nonslip material
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Place the cutting mat on the work surface.
2. Cut the pieces of fabric according to how big you want the organizer to be. It requires two large pieces (at least 12 inches wide by 24 inches tall) for the base of the organizer, and two smaller pieces (as wide as the base) in different sizes for the pockets. Fold the pieces in half lengthwise first so it's easier to cut them.
3. Use the ruler and the rotary cutter to trim the edges of the fabric so they’re straight.
4. Cut two pieces of cotton batting half the size of the pocket pieces.
5. Sandwich the batting between each of the two folded pocket pieces, and place the smaller folded piece on top of the bigger folded piece, putting a few pins on each side edge to secure them.
6. Find the horizontal midpoint on the fabric layers with the ruler, and place a dot at the top edge with the disappearing ink fabric marker.
7. Mark a dotted line all the way down to the bottom edge of the fabric.
8. Find the midpoint between the center of the fabric you just marked and the left side’s edge.
9. Place a mark at the top midpoint of the upper edge of the smaller piece of fabric that sits on top of the larger one.
10. Mark a vertical dotted line down to the fabric’s bottom edge as you did before.
11. Stitch from the first midpoint marked to the bottom of the fabric with the sewing machine.
12. Move the fabric to the left, and stitch the pinned edges together, removing the pins as you go.
13. Move the fabric to stitch the drawn-on vertical line on the top piece that lies on the bottom half of the larger piece of fabric.
14. Stitch the three other sides' pinned fabric edges together.
15. Put the pocketed piece aside and place the third piece of fabric on the work surface.
16. Fold this piece in half and orient it horizontally on the work surface.
17. Cut a piece of nonslip material that's half the width of the organizer base, and place it on top of your folded fabric. This part will go under the bed organizer.
18. Trim any excess from the nonslip fabric beyond the edges of the standard fabric with the scissors.
19. Unfold the fabric and place the nonslip fabric on top of it. The nonslip fabric should just cover the bottom half of the fabric.
20. Attach the outer edges of the nonslip fabric to the other fabric with the small clips.
21. Pin the top edge of the nonslip fabric to the middle portion of the other fabric.
22. Stitch the pinned edge of the nonslip fabric to the other fabric on the sewing machine, removing the pins as you go.
23. Stitch each of the edges of the nonslip and standard fabric clipped together, removing the clips as you go.
24. Flip the piece over, and reinforce the stitching on the edges that had been clipped.
25. Lay the piece flat on the work surface with the fabric’s right side facing up, making sure that the half of the underside that has nonslip fabric fills the top half of the fabric.
26. Place the pocket section on top of the bottom half of the fabric.
27. Pin the side and bottom edges of the pocket section to the larger fabric piece.
28. Sew the pinned sections together, removing the pins as you go.
29. Flip over the piece, and stitch those edges from the underside of the piece too.
30. Put the piece aside and set the cutting mat on the work surface.
31. Place another piece of fabric on the board, and fold the bottom third once to form a double layer. Choose fabric that matches some of the pieces or introduce a new pattern or color. It should be as long as the piece for the base.
32. Use the roller cutter to make the right edge of the fabric even, lining it up with guides on the cutting mat.
34. Place the ruler vertically on the fabric about 1 inch in from the edge, and cut a long strip with the roller cutter. Repeat until you have four pieces.
35. Take one of the fabric strips and place it along one of the edges of the base piece so half of the strip is on the front side and the other half is on the back.
36. Clip the strip onto the edge of the piece.
37. Repeat steps 35 and 36 on the other three sides of the base piece.
38. Stitch the strips onto each side to bind the piece, with the pocket side facing up, and remove the clips as you go.
39. Lay the piece flat on the work surface with the pocket section facing up.
40. Sew through all the layers vertically down the center to create that pocket.
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