Magazine Holder Cozy

The following is a post from contributing writer Jasmine.

We homeschool year round at our house, but usually around mid-summer I get the itch to start planning for the next school year. I think about how things worked out the previous year, and if there are any changes that I would like to make for the upcoming year.

One of the things that has been on my mind is the accessibility of my stuff. I usually keep all of our current books in a large basket on the bookshelf. But once I sit down to start reading to the kids, I have to either bring several books with me or get up between books to get the next one. I don’t mind getting up and getting the next book, but I have noticed that when mama gets up, even for a second, the kids scatter like ants. And their focus is completely gone.

To remedy the situation, I decided to place several books in a magazine holder at the side of my seat. I can now keep my books, worksheets, maps, and pens all at my fingertips as we move from one lesson to the next.

And because I didn’t like the look of black plastic, I came up with a cute magazine holder cozy to jazz it up a bit. I was so pleased with the results!

Supplies Needed

• (2) 1/2 yard pieces of fabric (one for the outside, one for the inside and the binding)
• (1) 1/2 yard piece of batting
• large piece of paper (15 inch x 36 inch) – parchment paper works great
• sharpie

Instructions

1. Draw the pattern onto the paper
   
   • Lay paper flat and place magazine holder top center – trace with sharpie.
   • Lay magazine holder on it’s right side, keeping the edge lined up on the previous tracing – trace with sharpie.
   • Flip over once more so that the front is facing down on the paper, again keeping the edge lined up on the previous tracing – trace with sharpie.
   • Move magazine holder back to center and lay it on it’s left side, repeating the previous steps.
   • Note:  When you are finished tracing, you will have traced the back once, each side once, and the front side twice.
2. Sandwich fabric
   
   • Lay down “inside” fabric, face down.
   • Lay down batting.
   • Lay down “outside” fabric, face up.
   • Lay down pattern on top.
   • Note:  Make sure the fabric and batting are smoothed out and that there are no wrinkles in them. Also, make sure the pattern fits nicely over the fabric with a bit of room on all edges.
3. Cut out fabric
   
   • Pin pattern to all three layers of fabric.
   • Cut out fabric along the *top* of the pattern – DO NOT CUT the bottom of the pattern.

   

4. Quilt as desired
   
   • This can be as fancy or as simple as you would like.
   • Practice your freehand quilting skills or simply sew lines up and down the length of the fabric (I suggest every one inch).
5. Bind top edge
   
   • Cut a 2 1/2 inch x 36 inch strip of fabric.
   • Bind the top of the fabric.
   • Need help with your binding? Here is a great quilt binding tutorial to help you out.
   • Now is also the time to add any pockets to your cozy.
6. Sew side and bottom seams
   
   • Turn fabric inside out and wrap around the magazine holder (the edges should meet in the front).
   • Making sure the edges of the fabric line up, pull fabric taut, and pin fabric together where it meets.
   • Gently slide off of magazine holder, then sew across using the pins as a guide (if you would like, you could use chalk to mark where the pins are, then sew).
   • Once sewn, slide cozy back onto magazine holder and repeat the steps above for the bottom seam.

   

7. Square corners
   
   • Slide cozy back onto magazine holder.
   • Lay bottom seam to one side, then grasp corner flap.
   • Pin (and mark if desired) at the corner edge.
   • Sew across corner seam line.
   • Repeat on second corner.
8. Trim corners
   
   • Trim corners leaving 1/4 inch seam allowance.
9. Finish
   
   • Turn inside out, pushing out corners.
   • Insert magazine holder in cozy.

More posts from Jasmine