06 Jan
It’s time to clean out my desk – Nesting Boxes to the Rescue!
Posted under New Fabrics, News, Reviews, Selfish Sewing, Tutorials
Hi All!
It’s been a busy first week of the New Year around here! Anyone else agree? I’ve been on this binge to completely purge my house (I do this often – don’t ask!) and I started in my sewing room. My desk…this big heavy metal beast of a desk, well, it needs to go. I have already procured a replacement from a friend of mine. The new desk is a beautiful old wooden desk from the local Holy Cross Abbey. It was one that the monks used fifty years ago. Can we say exciting!? I do need to sand it down a bit and refinish the top as it’s a little rough for fabric, but it’s otherwise in fabulous condition! I also need to disassemble it so I can bring it down to the basement, eventually. 😉 But anyways, in hopes of kicking off my new storage solution and work area, I created some fun little nesting boxes for my desk! You can find the pattern here and it seriously, took me no more than 3-4 hours to do them all! SO SO EASY!
I contacted Jennifer at Monaluna Design for the absolutely GORGEOUS fabric, and in case you’re curious, it’s called Westwood. You can find some for yourself here and I promise, you won’t regret it. It’s a lovely fabric made with Organic Cotton and the drape is amazing. It’s most similar in feel to Art Gallery Fabrics, but a little thicker. Not much! The colors are so very me! I especially LOVE LOVE LOVE the Deerheart print! Stay tuned for a project made with that.
++ Note: We are currently OUT of the Llama Love but will be getting more soon! ++
The pattern includes directions for four (4) different size boxes. There’s a small (3″ x 4″ x 2″), medium (3″ x 8″ x 2″), and large (6-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ x 2″) and with their 2″ height, they are PERFECT for inside drawers! The pattern calls for Fast 2 Fuse interfacing, but suggests that Peltex 72F will work too. I only had Peltex 71F, meaning it’s fusible on one side one, so I used Pellon Wonder Under to make the second side fusible. Works like a charm! I do recommend using a heavyweight interfacing for the nesting boxes as they are meant to be sturdy. Pellon DecorBond or similar will make for floppy boxes, and that’s definitely not the look I was going for.
The patterns was well written, and easy to follow. There are some diagrams to illustrate steps as you go and it’s seriously a very fast project! Like I said, I made all four in 3-4 hours with child interruptions (they’re ALWAYS hungry!) and picking up kids from school, etc. The only machine stitching you do, is while the nesting box is flat; there’s a bit of topstitching done. Otherwise, the pattern says to hand stitch the corners, but I rebelled and machine stitched mine. As long as you go slow, and take your time on that part, it can be done. Don’t worry about those pesky wrinkles you see (if you used Peltex 71/72F) as they’ll iron right out. I can’t say if that’s the case with the Fast 2 Fuse, as I didn’t have any to test out.
As you can see here, the boxes all “nest” together, hence the name, Nesting Boxes. They’re really the perfect size for all your notions or threads, or even a pair of scissors and glue pen. You can also separate the boxes and use them individually however you’d like! The possibilities are endless!
I definitely see myself making many more sets of these as gifts for my family and friends. Go get your pattern now and spend a few hours making them! You will not regret it!