Ok, so there’s still time to get a few things organised in January for the year ahead (well, just about!), and one thing that I’m never very organised with is my drawers. They are kind of like Monica’s closet on Friends, in that I generally just shove stuff in them but I’m then appalled by the state of them when I open them! Know that feeling? Well, I decided I’d have a go at making some simple fabric drawer inserts in an attempt to be a bit more tidy. I chose to use 4 different fabrics from the Petite Street collection by Dashwood Studios – I already had half a metre of the clouds fabric and the others were in the sale (yay!). The prints go so well together, and I knew that they would work perfectly for this project. 

 

Before you get started and gather your materials, measure how big your drawers are (!!) and think about what sort of size you want the inserts to be. This will help you to work out how much fabric you’ll need for your own template. To work out the size, draw out a square or rectangle the size that you want the bottom of the insert to be (mine was 26cm x 26cm). Then think about how deep you want it to be (mine was 8cm) and add that on to each of the 4 sides, with an extra centimetre for a seam allowance on each side too. So, I cut out a 44cm x 44cm square, and then cut an 8cm square out of each corner to create the template, like this:

 

 

So once you have worked out how much fabric you need, you can gather your other materials. You will need:

 

Two pieces of contrasting fabric, plus extra to make binding (or buy pre-made binding if you prefer)

A piece of thin wadding/batting, the same size as your piece of fabric

Matching cotton

Your sewing machine

Needle and pins

Sharp scissors

 

Step 1

 

Cut out an inner piece and an outer piece of fabric from your selection using the template you made, and do the same with the wadding. Place the wadding on the wrong side of the outer piece and then pin the sides of the 8cm square you cut out together. Stitch along each of the 4 edges with a 1cm allowance.

 

 

Once stitched, turn it the right way out.

 

 

Step 2

 

Place the lining fabric (right side up) inside the insert, and pin each corner to fit. You might need to make a few little adjustments here, so increase the seam allowance if you need to. Once you have stitched the corners, pin the lining to the insert and then stitch along the top to secure it.

 

 

 

Step 3

 

Measure the circumference of your insert and then make the binding to the right length (or cut the binding you bought to length). Position it over the top, pinning as you go, and then stitch along the bottom edge.

 

 

Step 4

 

To help the insert stand up a little more, I hand stitched a few small stitches on the top of each corner. It’s really effective, actually – yay!

 

 

 

Ta-dah! Ready to place in a drawer to get things organised. I’m keeping my socks in these (I do have more than one pair – I wanted to show you what they look like in my drawer, although it isn’t the best photo I’ve ever taken…)

 

 

 

 

What have you been doing to get organised for 2015?