Tissue box holder

I found a hanging cover for a tissue box on Pinterest (http://www.apalog.com/studio-clip_craft/archive/76#BlogEntryExtend). There is a PDF of instructions how to make it on the website. One small issue - everything is in Japanese.

I decided it wasn't too difficult and I could probably fudge my way through it. To be on the safe side, I chose a piece of scrap fabric with a bit of a stretch. I won't attempt to give you a full tutorial, but perhaps just a brief overview.

The features of the bag is that it holds a normal size box of tissues, has a flap at one end to change the boxes when empty, and a strap that buttons on to enable it be hung. It's the hanging that appeals to me. I like to keep a box of tissues in the car, but they're a bit awkward to stash. This bag will allow the box to be hung behind a front seat.


The seam of the main body piece will form the opening for the tissues. I stitched normal from the end to the beginning of my opening; lengthened my stitch to 6 for the opening, and reverted back to normal for the other end of the seam. I made the lining and outer exactly the same.

The flap is slightly rounded on the front. I really wasn't sure how to tackle the flap, so I don't know if this is the best way. I sewed a flap piece to the outer and to the lining of the body, opposite the seam for the opening. That is, the opening is in the middle on the front, the flap is on the back. I sewed the lining to the outer around the flap and the three sides of the top.

I then sewed the base out to the outer. I only partly sewed the base onto the lining - so I could turn the entire bag in the right way. Later I realised I could leave the base of the lining until the end.

With the bag in the right way, I top-stitched around the flap and the top.  To create the opening, unstitch the basting on both the outer and lining, then topstitch the outer to the lining. This is where I realised that after unstitching the basting and before the topstitching, I could sew in the base of the lining - because you can pull it out through the opening.

Last step is add a strap at the top. It's sewn onto one side, and buttoned on the other. The button allows you to use a shorter strap and still get over the car seat headrest.

Clear as mud? You can always try the Japanese instructions (which do have some very helpful diagrams).

I haven't attached the strap on this side yet. It is for hubby's car, and it's not here for me to check just how long it needs to be.

With the flap open, to show how easy it is to change boxes.