DIY Fabric Box With Lid Tutorial

Today’s post is a tutorial on how to make a fabric box with an attached lid. You can check out my previous fabric box posts here and here. This box turned out very sturdy so I can stack multiple ones on top of each other.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Fabric Measurement

Unlike my previous fabric box where you can adjust the height and width dynamically, here you need to decide ahead of time how large you want your final box to be. I wanted the dimensions of my box to measure approximately 7D x 7W x 5.5H. Here is a diagram I made to help you calculate how large your fabric needs to be. I cut a piece of craft paper to use as a template first to make sure the size was to my liking before I cut my fabric. I ended up cutting 2 pieces of fabric measuring 19″ x 29″ and used 1/2″ seam allowances.

To get the 19″ side, I added 5.5 ( left height ) + 7 ( lid width ) + 5.5 ( right height ) = 18″ + seam allowances

To get the 29″ side I added 9.5 ( lid height) + 5.5 ( back height ) + 7 ( right width ) + 5.5 ( front height ) = 27.5 + seam allowances

I cut cereal boxes to use as inserts for the lid and sides of the box. You can use 2 pieces of cereal box for each side if you want your box more rigid. Note that cereal box text may show through your fabric if it is lighter in color. I suggest you use a darker color fabric for 1 side and and turn the cereal box side with text to face the dark side of the fabric. Tell me how I know this…

Instructions

1. After you cut your 2 fabric pieces, fabric fold over 1/2″ on the shorter 19″ of the fabric and sew right sides together on the 3 sides indicated by the blue lines below. Leave the shorter side with the seams folded over open.

2. Measure 6 inches up where your lid is set to fold over on each side of the fabric and draw a rectangle 6″H x 0.5″W indicated by the red lines below.

3. Draw a line 1/4″ in between the rectangle. This is where you will cut the fabric indicated by the green lines. Do not cut more than 6 inches up.

This is how the lines should look on the fabric.

4. Cut the excess fabric we do not need for the lid. Then sew along the purple lines as noted below. Add 1/4″ on each side so we have 7.5″ to make room for the lid to fit over the box.

This is what your project should look like at this point.

5. Turn your fabric right side out and straighten out the corners. Lay your fabric on top of a cereal box and trace the T shape of the lid. I couldn’t fit the lid and the back side onto 1 cereal box so I taped the pieces together. Here is a view of all the cereal box pieces inserted into the fabric from the open side.

6. At this point, the cereal box inserts made the box too rigid to sew the fabric together so I used Aleene’s No-Sew fabric Glue to glue the sides of the box together. Before gluing everything down, I used binder clips to hold the sides together to made sure the lid would fit.

7. Once you’re satisfied with the dimensions, start with one corner of the box and fold the edges together to form a triangle. Hold it in place with a binder clip. Use fabric glue to glue the triangle to the side of the box. Do this for all 4 sides of the box. This is the same method I used to my fabric box without a lid here.

Also glue the outside edge of the box so the box corners are smooth.

8.  The side that was left open will be the front of the box. Glue the 2 folded edges together. Here is what the interior of the box looks like with all the sides glued down.

9. Fold the corners for the 2 corners of the lid and glue to the side as well. Here is what corners of the finished lid looks like.

Now I can stack my boxes.

And now I have another box for my Liberty fat quarters =)

This project would make a great gift box too if you can’t find one with the right dimensions. No gift wrapping needed =)

Thanks for stopping by and happy “mad” box making!

Related posts:

DIY Fabric Box Tutorial DIY Liberty Fabric Book Tutorial – Part 2 DIY Fabric Box With Lid DIY Liberty Fabric Book Tutorial – Part 1