Quilted Dish Cover

 Hello Readers. The holiday season is upon us and that means we will be taking food to parties and get-togethers as we visit friends and family. I thought it would handy to have a cover and carrying case for my baking dish. It wasn't hard to make, let me show you.

Take a dish to dinner and keep it warm too. 

I had a piece of quilted fabric that I wanted to use. I have an unusual size dish. It is 9x11 but it is very deep. I tried different ways to fit my fabric piece around my dish first to make sure it would work. I made sure the fabric could wrap up the sides of my dish and overlap on the top of the dish. That is the key to the whole project.

*You could also use an old blanket, pillow sham, quilt, table cover, towel .... anything that you like that has a bit of thickness to insulate your dish.

I wanted to make my cover in the same shape as my dish. I wanted it to have sides that my dish could sit down in. I cut out these squares so that I could sew the corners of my cover. 

You can see here what I mean. I wanted to sew this corner together so the sides would stand up. The extra fabric will cover the top and keep my dish warm. 

 

I used my serger to sew the sides. It will keep them from fraying. You could also use a sewing machine with a zigzag stitch.
 

Here is a look at the cover with the corners sewn so that the sides stand up. There is extra fabric on each side and it looks too big but don't cut it off. It is going to make the top of the cover. 

When the fabric is over the top of the dish those extra "flaps" can be tucked into the cover and add insulation to the top of the dish. 

When these little flaps are tucked in the cover is nicely closed and the dish is covered and will stay warmer than if it was just sitting out uncovered. But those edges don't look great. Let's make it prettier. 

 

 

 I used matching double-fold bias tape on all the exposed edges.

 It will make the cover look more nicely finished. 

I sewed the bias tape with matching thread so that the stitches would blend in. 

The bias tape is folded so no raw edges will show. The bias tape is like a hot dog bun and the fabric edge is the hot dog. I fit the edge of the fabric into the bias tape and sewed all 3 layers together. 

The bias tape looks much better than the unfinished edges. 

I took a piece of wide ribbon that was about a yard long. I connected the ends to make a loop. This is going to be the handles to carry the cover and dish. 

I put the loop under the cover. The wide ribbon will help keep the dish stable and level. 

I pinned the ribbon to the cover so it would stay centered in the middle of the bottom of the cover while I sew. The ribbon needs to be symmetrical to keep the dish level when carrying it. 

The ribbon loop comes up over the top and makes 2 handles. 

I stitched both sides of the ribbon to the cover so that it would stay in place. 

I folded the handles into thirds where my hand would hold it. 

I sewed about 3 inches to make the "handle" easy to grab. 

When my cover was finished it stayed closed over the dish and was easy to carry. And it looks cute too. 

When I open the cover my baking dish is ready to open and share. I hope you can enjoy food and fun with friends and family in the coming months. 

***Year End Update***- This was so useful this holiday season. 5 stars.

Paper Grocery Bags Help With Holiday Dinner

 Hello Readers. When I get groceries I try to order online. It's just easier. I get my groceries brought out to my car in brown paper grocery bags. I fold them up and save them. After a while you start to get quite a lot of them. I have a couple ideas to use them for a big holiday dinner. Thanksgiving is coming soon in the U.S., and I will be using these ideas on the big day. 

Paper grocery bags? Yes. Check it out.

I like to shop at a store called Aldi. The specific grocery store doesn't matter. The traditional brown paper grocery bags are what you need. 

These specific bags had handles so the first thing I did was remove the handles. I pulled them off gently and slowly. The handles are not difficult to remove. 

I used some craft scissors and cut straight down the side of the bag. It doesn't matter what side. 

 

I continued cutting around the bottom of the bag to completely remove the bottom of each bag.

 

I spread the bag out flat and then continued to cut more bags. The bags will get flatter the longer they are spread out. I needed 5 in total for my kitchen table.

 

I put the bags with the writing side down and used some clear tape to hold the edges of the bags together. I wanted to make a table cover, sort of a "table cloth" out of bags. You can buy rolls of paper to cover the table but the bags are free and using what you already have on-hand is more environmentally friendly.

 

I got some crayons, stickers, candies, and set a table with kids in mind. I put unbreakable decor on the table as well, just to make it fun. 

 

I set the table and scattered the crayons and candy around. The kids can draw and decorate their table. They are going to drip food and get a little messy. It's OK. They are kids, kids are messy. I can roll up all of the paper at the end of the night and throw it all away. Less cleaning for me. 

 

My second idea is a twist on the first idea. If you are setting up a big buffet for a lot of people it can get messy. Using paper bags that have been cut open to cover your buffet/serving tables can save you a lot of clean up. Spread the flattened bags out and put all the food dishes and such on the paper. Use hot pads if you have hot dishes from the oven. 

I used a marker to write down what was in each dish. If you have friends and relatives with dietary restrictions or food allergies then you know how they need to be careful about what they eat. This is a good way to let people know what is in each food without having to tell each and every person as they go through the buffet line. 

You can mark places for all the foods ahead of time to make getting the food out of the kitchen and onto the table easier and faster. When you have a large dinner, someone will spill something while getting the food on their plate, when dinner is over you can roll up this paper buffet cover and throw it away. Less cleaning for you.

I would suggest writing large enough that people can read the writing easily. Older relatives, kids or visually impaired people might not be able to see or read small or cursive writing. Thanks for reading along, and I wish you the best of holidays. 

***Year End Update- Covering my Thanksgiving table made clean up so much easier and I learned that even adults will color as they sit around the table if the crayons are available.