Floral Sewing Machine Cover - Free sewing patterns

Just like a turtle has its shell, your sewing machine needs a cover! Not only does Carolyn Letten’s sleeve protect your machine from scratches, it’ll cheer up your deskspace, too, especially if you coordinate it with your craft room décor! Our designer chose haberdashery-inspired materials and a fresh colour palette of sky blue and spring yellow to sew this project, plus she’s added front pockets for extra storage space.

Essentials

Fat quarters: royal blue floral; pale blue floral; yellow; blue swirl; spool print
Backing fabric, calico
Ribbon, royal blue
Bias binding: navy spot; turquoise spot, 2.5cm x 3.5m each
Piping cord
Printed cotton tape
Iron-on interfacing
1cm seam allowance used throughout, unless otherwise stated.

1 Download and print the templates. For the front pockets, cut royal blue floral fabric, 14cm x 22cm, blue swirl print, 7cm x 14cm, and pale blue floral, 14cm x 17cm.

2 Pin the royal blue and swirl pieces right sides together, and sew a seam. Stitch the swirl and pale blue pieces right sides together, trapping a loop of printed cotton tape in the seam. Sew the seam, topstitch, then press open on the wrong side.

3 Attach printed cotton vertically onto the royal blue fabric, and press. Pin and stitch the wrong side of the front pocket to calico of the same size, using a 5mm seam allowance. Sew spotty bias binding across the top raw edge.

4 Cut yellow fabric, 29cm x 42cm, and printed cotton tape, 43cm long. Pin the tape across the yellow material so that it’s 17cm above the bottom edge of the fabric. Sew across both tape edges using royal blue thread, and press on the wrong side.

5 Interface a section of the spool print, then cut out 12 spools. Place them on the yellow material and stitch around each one in matching thread. Sew three lines of zig zag stitch in three coordinating shades onto the spools, then press the wrong side.

6 Trace the template words onto white tissue paper, pin in place, and use royal blue thread to sew over it twice. Tear the paper away and press the wrong side. Snip pale blue fabric, 10.5cm x 42cm. Cover 44cm of piping cord with turquoise spot bias binding, and pin it between the top edge of the yellow and light blue fabric.

7 Sew across the binding and topstitch the yellow fabric in coordinating thread. Cut royal blue fabric, 36cm x 42cm. Cover 44cm of piping cord with the turquoise bias binding, and pin it between the royal and light blue fabrics. Sew across the binding and topstitch the royal blue fabric in coordinating thread.

8 Pin the pocket across the bottom of the machine cover, then sew a 5mm seam down both sides and along the bottom. Add vertical lines to divide the pockets as you wish. Trim any excess fabric and cord.

9 Lay the cover over the machine and cut the length as necessary. Mark where each piece of ribbon will hang, making sure that each pair lines up for tying. Back the cover with a length cut to the same size, then sew a 5mm seam all the way around. Cover the top and bottom raw edges with bias binding.

10 Cut eight 20cm lengths of ribbon and fold over one raw end of each piece twice, then sew. Pin bias binding down the sides of the cover, then attach it in place, trapping one raw end of each ribbon underneath it.