It’s that time of year where I like to get organised for the year, although it is a little more tricky this year given that our house is completely upside down with the building work! But I’m trying to sort things out where I can, and decided that I needed a little bit more storage for my ever-growing collection of craft magazines. I have had this project in mind for a while now and then I spotted this gorgeous fabric by Cloud 9 on sale in John Lewis and I knew that they would be perfect craft storage – and at £7 per metre it was a bargain too!

 

You’ll need about half a metre to cover these files, which I got from Paperchase. Over the years, I have learnt that you get what you pay for with magazine files, and I was always forever buying those cardboard ones that break after a little while. These are super sturdy and much wider than normal ones, so you can fit more in too! They are £7 each but are worth the investment, I promise.

 

You will need

 

A magazine file (or as many as you need)

Half a metre of fabric to cover each one (pre-washed and ironed)

Some A3 card

Pencil

Sharp scissors

Mod Podge and a paintbrush (I just used the matt one, but use whatever you have)

 

Step 1

 

Make a template of your magazine file by drawing around it on the card – you just need to draw around one side and half of the back (the deepest bit) and then measure the bottom and front (the shortest bit) as a separate piece (see below). I added a couple of centimetres around the edges of the side template to allow for overlap, except for along the bit where it is half of the back. This edge will be placed along a fold of the fabric when you cut out.

 

 

Step 2

 

Place the larger template with the deepest edge along the folded edge of your fabric. Cut it out carefully, and then repeat with the rectangular template (which does not need to be cut on a fold). Then open out the larger piece of fabric, face down, and position the file on top.

 

 

Step 3

 

Once in position, spread some Mod Podge on one side of the file – you need a fairly thin layer but enough to make it stick. Pull the fabric over and smooth out any creases. Repeat with the other sides. If there’s a hole in the side (for pulling the file off the shelf) you can either cover it up as I did with mine, or cut a hole in the fabric if you prefer. I covered it for easiness! 🙂

 

 

Step 4

 

Next, carefully spread a little Mod Podge on the inside of the edges, and fold over the fabric and stick down. You’ll need to snip the fabric a little for neatness.

 

 

 

Step 5

 

Now stick down the edges at the bottom, and then cover the rest of the area with Mod Podge.

 

 

 

 

Step 6

 

Take the rectangular piece of fabric and place it carefully along the edge, and then smooth it down. Then repeat with the front section and neaten the edges inside too.

 

 

 

Ta-dah! You’ll have to let the file dry before you can use it – you don’t want all your magazines to stick to the insides!

 

 

 

Now I can tidy my magazines away in style! And when I have a craft room one day, they will go in there perfectly 🙂 Until then, I’ll be storing these in our study. The great thing about this project is that you can cover these to suit different rooms and styles. Yay!