Askja með bútasaum 16. February 2022

First, make the pattern for your box. Remove the lid of the box and carefully separate the box at the corners, so both bottom and lid can lay completely flat on a table. Trim the sides with a utility knife so they are completely straight. If it is difficult separating the corners from each other, you can use a utility knife for this as well.

Remove a few mm of all corners of the bottom of the box using a ruler and a utility knife. This way, you make sure that the bottom of the box is even smaller than the lid, so the bottom and lid still fit each other when they are covered in fabric.

Place the bottom and lid on two pieces of tracing paper. Draw around both shapes and connect the corners from the open edges with a straight line. Add 1.5 cm seam allowance around the entire edge. You now have the pattern for the cover of both the inside and outside.

Cut your patterns in patchwork fabric – two pieces for inside and outside of the lid and the same for the bottom. You can easily mix fabric of different colours and designs. Hold the paper pattern on to the fabric with pins while you cut.

Now it is time to cover the inside of your box in fabric. Start by gluing the fabric onto the inside part of the box with a glue stick. The easiest way to do this is to let the box lay flat onto a surface that can get stained. Evenly distribute glue to the entire inside side of the box.

Place your cut piece of patchwork fabric flat on a table with the reverse side up and glue the paper box onto it so the corners of the fabric match with the corners of the box. Press the fabric onto the glue so it sticks well, and you avoid any bobbles. Leave to dry for a while.

Repeat step 5 and 6 with the other half of the box, so the inside of both bottom and lid is glued onto fabric.

When the inside of both bottom and lid has been glued on, cut a big split in the fabric from the middle of the corners until you reach the corner of the paper box. Then, glue the remaining fabric onto the sides of the box and finish by folding the sides upwards to form the box shape again. You can tape the sides back together to hold the shape of the box. Cover the inside of the lid with the same approach.

Cover the outside of the bottom. Glue the bottom on to the fabric, flip the sides of fabric up round the sides of the box and fold it in the corners, so you get an even and straight finish. Tuck your 1.5 cm seam allowance in all the way around and hold the fabric in place with clamps as you go. Now sew the fabric on to the box with small stitches all the way around at the edge.

Place the lid of the box on a piece of cotton batting and cut the cotton batting to fit the lid. It is not a problem if the batting sticks out around the sides of the lid a bit. Glue the cotton batting to the lid.

Place the lid with cotton batting on your cut fabric for the outside of the lid. Tug in sides and seam allowance like on the bottom of the box, holds with clamps, and sew once more all the way around the edges with small stiches.

Place the lid on the bottom. Your box is now finished.

If you are having issues getting the glue to stick properly to the paper box, you can lightly scratch the surface of the box with sandpaper, or you can try to remove the foil from the box completely. Removing the foil, however, can be time consuming. If you do not have any clamps, you can use paper clips to hold the fabric onto the box while you sew. If you do not have pattern paper, you can use baking paper or regular paper which you may have a tape together to get a piece big enough for the project.