Sewing Project - Bespoke Casserole Carrier

I brought my sister some fabric that came my way both at the ReUse Ctr and from the quilting group.  She offered to make me a casserole carrier.  She was planning a zippered one but had not worked out the details. I thought a less bulky zippered one is what I would like so we set out together to design one.  She had this nice navy embroidered fabric and we found some yellow fabric that matched the stitching quite well.

I had brought one of my casseroles to ensure that it fit nicely. 

This photo is of the carrier closed the the handles folded on top.

She paired the navy embroidery fabric with some navy cotton fabric for the inside.  We cut the navy layers based on the casserole and rounded the corners. Then we sandwiched fiberfill in between these 2 layers, sewed all the way around and turned it right side out.

We checked again to see if it was going to be big enough.  We had planned for a band of yellow for the height of the carrier. 

We used the same method I used for my bespoke tote for the adding the zippers to the side band.  You can find this tutorial here. We found 2 yellow zippers in her stash. We decided to make the zippers go around the carrier to the left and to the right. We planned to have the side band be 4" tall but it ended up being a bit taller than that at almost 5 inches.

The carrier features tabs to open the carrier, to close the zippers, handles.

The blue tabs are at the back of the carrier and help when one is closing the carrier.  They had to be sewn directly to the zipper.

The yellow tabs are in the front where the zippers meet and there is one for the left zipper and one for the left zipper to help with the opening of the carrier.

The handles are long enough to accommodate several containers and are centrally located to allow the container to be balanced in the carrier.

I thought it would be a good idea to have something stiff in the bottom of the carrier so I searched my stash of wood and found a piece of plywood 8 inches square.  That will do nicely.

My sister donated from Mom's stash a piece of blue anti slip material in Mom's favorite color.  I wrapped it around the wood board and voila it works out perfectly.

Now, the dish will stay in the center of the carrier and will not slide around.

Really happy to have reused materials.

The carrier with my beautiful yellow casserole by Kitchen Aid.  It was a gift from a friend for my birthday years ago.

That seems to be a good fit.

This casserole measures 11 inches handle to handle and does have a lid with a knob which means the height needs to be accommodated but we measured for that.

And here it is ready to take a dish to a potluck, picnic, a family get together and party with friends.

It works so well.  

And because I had my casserole it is just the right size.  I really like the zippers which will keep all the stuff inside.  The handles will go a long way to keeping the dish level and help to avoid spills.

Of course, being navy it should handle any spills well.  It is easy to wash with all the fabric cotton.

I have 3 other containers that this carrier will handle. 

This is my non stick blue casserole dish which measures 12 inches across the handles.  It does not have a lid so parchment will ensure that the top of the carrier does not touch the food in the dish. 

Here's the carrier with Mom's bean pot which I use for soup.  Not sure I would carry it with soup in it but it could be cabbage rolls or some dish like that.

It has a lid with a bit of a knob on the top but it is taller that the other dishes but only measures 10 inches handle to handle so that helps to accommodate the additional height.

And not to be out done with hot dishes it can also carry my Tupperware mixing bowl.

It could hold fruit, salad, dessert, and very much more.

This carrier will come in very handy when taking food on the road.

Thanks so much sister for the joint project.

It turned out wonderfully.

Share Your Cup #203

I've come up with a way to remember how many times I've steeped my loose tea.  Most teas you can steep at least 2 times, some more. 
I chose to re-purpose an item already in my house.  I made these glass markers years ago and sold many of them.  They were designed to sit on the stem of a glass and each guest would have their own color. and therefore able to remember which glass was theirs.
These were still in my stash so I decided to add one to the handle of the tea pot each time I made tea.  They are pretty and useful.  Works for me. 

Does anyone else have the problem of remembering the number of time tea leaves have been steeped?  How do you handle it?  Leave me a comment.

This is one of the books I read over the last three weeks.  The ideas are not new but a reminder is always good.  The three principles are:
1. What you resist persists and grows stronger.
2. You can only be exactly as you are in the moment.
3. Anything you allow to be exactly as it is completes itself.
The idea for number 3 is: If you are facing something difficult face it head on and let it be.  It will run it's course and disappear. Many times we avoid, procrastinate, deflect issues based on our fears which just make them last longer.

I celebrated a birthday last week.  You know one of those that end in a zero.  It was a big one.


A good friend took me out for supper, a trip to an antique mall and DQ for dessert on my actual birthday.
I received several phone calls and emails from family.
I was out for steak dinner last night thanks to a good friend.
Another birthday supper is planned with a friend in about 10 days.
I am truly blessed to have such great friends and family.

Of course, I always share my birthday with Father's Day!

I found these Tea Cup Silicone Cupcake baking cups this week.  I love them and they will make a great addition to my tea accessories collection.  I use silicone liners for my muffins all the time. The black ones from Pampered Chef have not discolored probably because of their color.  The ones from Steeped Tea Morning Glory Dessert Cups have discolored so I don't think I will be baking cupcakes in these.  I want to keep them pretty.  I think I will use them for jellied or frozen desserts.  I can see pudding topped with fresh fruit in them.

Here's a wonderful yellow!! casserole dish which I received as a gift recently.  I love it!

I was able to purge a couple of old Pyrex pieces put this one in their place in the cupboard.  One in one out is a good rule to live by.  One in two out is even better.

I'm serving lunch on Friday so I think I will make a rhubarb crisp for dessert. 

Submitting to Share Your Cup #203 hosted by Carol at Art & Sand.