For YEARS I have been meaning to make a casserole carrier for transporting hot dishes to and from parties, holiday dinners, etc. But put it on my 2-mile-long list of crafty things to do, and it's easily forgotten each year. That's why I am so excited about today's guest post, just in time for Thanksgiving! Not that I'm actually going to get it done by then, but at least when I do get around to it I can just do it and not have to bother with coming up with the pattern! Please welcome our fabulous guest post today from Christina of 2 Little Hooligans. Thanks so much for sharing, Christina!


Casserole Carrier Tutorial
I am really excited to share this with all of you. This is unlike any other casserole carrier you have ever seen. I love that the handles are made of fabric and are not wooden dowels. I think it gives the carrier more stability. I also like that it is lined with Insul-Bright to keep your casserole dishes warm or cold while transporting. With that said, I do not recommend taking dishes directly from the oven and placing into carrier. It may work, but I'm not going to try that one. Just let the dish cool a bit first. The carrier is made of all machine washable fabrics, so wash away. I suggest line drying instead of placing into the dryer. (Please forgive me on the pictures. I hope you are all able to see my stitches. I used the darkest fabric I had and used white thread. But I was taking these pictures in the middle of the night and the lighting was not so good.)

Don't let all the steps scare you. I tried to make this tutorial as easy as possible for everyone to follow along. It really is easy. Your just taking two pieces of fabric and making a cross with them and attaching some handles. I hate to think that my ideas are basic, but they are!
Let's get started!

Sew all around using the edge of insul-bright as your guide. Leave a 3" opening for turning right side out.

**note: I changed the foot on my machine to H. It is one of the plastic feet. This made a huge difference.**
Trim excess fabric and square off corners. Pull fabric out through opening.

Iron and top stitch all around the top.

Repeat for the other pieces.

You should have two pieces that look like this now.

Lay the pieces out on top of each other making a cross.

Make sure the 37" X 12" one is on top.

Make sure you line them up straight. The right side of my thinner piece stuck out about 10".

Mark where the fabrics meet on all sides like the picture. This doesn't mean anything now, but it will help later.

Now place a casserole dish in the center of the two pieces and fold closed. Fold the longer piece over first and the wider piece on top of that one. Feel for the top of the casserole dish and make a mark on the fabric where the top of the dish is. This mark will tell you where to stop sewing when attaching the handles.

See my little mark? Take a ruler and extend the mark for the length of the dish. Repeat on the opposite side.

Set aside for now.

To make the handles: Cut four pieces of fabric 44" X 2 1/2". Cut two pieces of flannel or batting the same size.

Layer with the flannel on the bottom and the two pieces of fabric right sides facing on top of the flannel. Sew together the entire length of the sides.
Flip right side out, iron and top stitch.

Attaching the handles: You will be attaching the handles to the 30" X 15" piece.

This is where those marks you just made from the top of the casserole dish come in handy. See them?

Line up the handles like so. Make sure they are evenly spaced, about 3" in from the edge. The middle of the handles should be in the middle of the piece of fabric.

Sew on the handles. Use the top stitch that you did on the handles as a guide and stitch right on top of those stitches again. Do not sew past the marker marks on the fabric. You want to make sure you sew straight lines. These will be seen on the bottom of the carrier.

Pieces should look like this now.

Attaching the two pieces together:
Line the pieces up again where you drew the lines before. Pin in place. Remember the 37" X 12" fabric is on top and the fabric with the handles is on the bottom.

Do not sew on the lines. Sew in a little. See where I made my stitches? Again, I wanted to make them line up with the stitches on the under piece. It will make it look neater from the bottom of the carrier.

This is what the bottom of the carrier looks like now.

See how nicely the stitches line up on the bottom?


Attaching the Velcro: Lay carrier flat, place casserole dish inside and pin Velcro in place where you want it.


Play with the pieces and see where you would like them most. Here is where I placed mine. I used a 2" wide Velcro so that I can use this carrier for two sized pans.

Finishing off the handles: I like to make little padded sections to attach the handles together.

Cut four pieces of fabric and flannel (or batting) 6 1/2" X 3" .

Layer them like so, with 1 piece of flannel, 2 pieces of fabric right sides facing, and the last piece of flannel on top.

Sew sides together, leaving ends open.

Turn right right side out and iron.

Fold ends in about 1/2" and iron again.
Slide ends of handles into the middle of padded handle.

Pin and sew in place on the ends.

Make sure the handles are at matching lengths and the padded handles are in the center of the handle.

The fabrics are pretty thick at this point and I had a hard time sewing through all the layers until I switched needles. You may want to do so as well.

Sew together the two pieces of fabric, right sides facing. Leave a 1 1/2" opening for turning right side out.

Turn right side out through opening, iron and top stitch.

Sew the Velcro on. Make sure the Velcro is sewn on opposite sides and ends like in the picture.



























Carrier will hold a 8X12 or 9X13 inch rectangular pan.

share this on »

{Facebook}

{Twitter}

{Pinterest}

13 Comments