February 12, 2021
Want to know how to make fabric-covered boxes? This complete tutorial will walk you through every step, complete with diagrams and photographs.
How to Make Fabric-Covered Boxes
The question you didn’t know to ask, right?
Youl want stylish storage solutions, but you don’t want to sink a lot of money into your projects. What if you had a crafty storage solution that gave you an opportunity to use about a yard of fabric and one of your many empty diaper boxes?
Those boxes you buy diapers in. They are SO sturdy! We hate to part with them, but what do you do with a box that says Huggies or Swaddlers. (It’s just not cool to have a collection of various waste containment products lined up in your living room.)
When I found out about covering them with fabric, I was thrilled. Our first little grandconsumer of those waste containment products is now seven years old, and those boxes have held up well.
I want to try and talk through the process of creating these, but it’s gonna be a long read. Get that cup of coffee! And I may have to show you some low-quality photographs of the process.
The Best News About How To Make Fabric Covered Boxes?
The exciting thing for most people is that you don’t have to sew!
If you can measure, fold, iron, and hot glue, you’re in!
You can use any sturdy box, any size.
You can use any fabric, but if it’s thin or very light in color, you may want to paint your box white before covering. To avoid that step, I use upholstery fabric. It’s thicker. There are remnants at Hancock or JoAnn that are very affordable.
And there’s something pleasing to me about poring over that remnant table at the fabric store. Incredibly so. All those beautiful bits of fabric that almost didn’t find a home.
Finding coordinating colors and patterns is easy. Just keep picking up the ones you love and placing them together. Soon you’ll have a cohesive group of fabrics that make you look like a decorator. (See today’s tip for more about that.)
Before you actually do the step-by-step, read over the whole process.
And I’ll tell you why. You’ve got a lot of figuring to do.
- Understanding the shape of the cuts can be a hurdle.
- Figuring out how far down into the box your fabric will go has to be decided.
- Planning how you’ll place the glue is important also.
- Having all your supplies nearby is necessary.
When you think you’re ready, do a quick “dry run” to see if you need to adjust your process.
You might want to put something heavy into your box, to keep it still. I actually placed a cast iron dutch oven into mine. Crazy, right? It was nearby. And it kept things from moving around while I was trying to mark the outline.
You may want to use clothespins to hold things in place. The dry run will give you a chance to figure that out before you’ve got hot glue in your hair. Or on your fingers. Yeow!
All that. So, read on!
THE BASIC INSTRUCTION FOR HOW TO MAKE FABRIC COVERED BOXES
If you’re a visual learner, or a person who sews a little, the illustrations will be easy to grasp. If not, don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of pictures and detailed instructions.
You’ll see how to cut your fabric so that the outside of the box is completely covered. Like sewing patterns, there are a few tips to make a neat end result.
The fabric extends right over the top edge and into the interior so that all the visible areas are covered.
I’ll describe the initial steps, then there will be diagrams to help you.
Scoot down the page at any time to look at the diagrams. In fact, you almost have to do that to understand the written directions.
For the sake of simplicity in the diagram, the box in the example/illustration is square, not oblong. So all the sides are equal. Once you get the process down, uneven sides won’t be a big deal.
OVERVIEW for How To Make Fabric Covered Boxes
Basically you’re cutting out a large “plus sign” from your fabric, folding the edges just so, and gluing it onto the box.
Step one is to cut the flaps off your box. Use a box cutter, utility knife, or scissors.
Step two is to figure out how much fabric you need.
Step three is marking the fold and cut lines on your fabric.
Step four is cutting the fabric.
Step five is ironing the edge folds into your fabric.
Step six is securing your fabric around the box.
Step seven is making a covered “floor” inside your box.
Step eight is the embellishments!
I like step-by-step instructions. I love them. So I created an infographic that’s printable with each of the steps illustrated. It’s down at the end. 🤓
FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH FABRIC YOU NEED
Step one is cutting the flaps off. I use a box cutter. Be careful.
Once you’ve cut your box flaps from the top, you’re ready for Step two.
You’ll spread the fabric out on a large table or the floor, and put the box in the center.
The fabric is right side (face) down. That is, the “back” or “wrong” side of the fabric is up. Which means you can mark on it with a pencil and it won’t show on your finished project!
Now, try to “dry fit” your fabric. Do this by pulling each of the four edges up and over the side of the box. You don’t have to hold them all four at the same time, but you’re trying to find out how far your fabric will extend into the inside walls of the box.
If you have enough fabric to go all the way down the inside, that’s great. I usually don’t.
And that’s not crucial for me. Most people don’t see the inside of the box. If that’s important, just be sure you have enough fabric.
The important thing is figuring out how to get that even. You want each side to reach down to the same level inside the box.
Today, our box is square, so our fabric shape is also square.
If you try an oblong (rectangular) box, your fabric will be a rectangle shape.
When working with an oblong box, at this point you want to be sure your fabric shape is proportional. You need to get the entire fabric panel the right size. To do this, cut the length of your fabric so that the sides match your box shape.
This part can be frustrating, as it’s hard to hold the box still and pull the fabric around it, etc.. But getting your fabric the right size/shape will make all the other steps work beautifully.
When you’ve got your fabric the right size, do one last thing to finalize this part: Find the center of your fabric and mark it with a tiny circle.
You can do this however you like – measuring, folding, box placement, etc.
Usually the bottom of the diaper box has a taped opening where the flaps join and you can actually peek through it and see your mark when the box is sitting there.
The center point is important until you mark your box outline.
And remember: You’re seeing the wrong (back) side of your fabric. This will be glued to the box, and the right side will be facing out.
Step three is marking the fold and cut lines on your fabric.
👉 Remember that you’re just reading through this the first time, referring to the diagrams often.
MARKING THE FABRIC
When you’ve gotten the fabric cut to the correct size, set the box down in the center. The tiny circle you marked helps. You can put a few books or a heavy object inside to keep it still.
Check your fabric once more with the box positioned. Be sure the sides reach over exactly as planned.
And get your pencil!
Here is your list of marks:
1. First marking: With the box carefully in the center (weighted down if you like), draw the outline of the box on your fabric.
Once you draw your outline of the box, the job gets easier. You can leave the box in place if you like, or remove it and just use the outline you made.
2. The second marking is the dotted lines. Making a dotted line, simply extend each of the box outlines all the way to the fabric edge. That’s right, you’ll have a total of eight dotted lines, each going from a corner of the box outline to the edge of the fabric.
These dotted lines are your fold lines.
3. The third marking is the four small (2 inch) solid diagonal lines that extend out from each corner of the box outline. (D) These will be your last cut lines later.
4. And the fourth and final marking will be your outer solid (cut) lines. These will be the very edges of your side panels. They look like the dotted lines, but draw them solid. They will extend from the short diagonal lines to the edges of the fabric.
These solid lines are your cut lines. When you actually cut them you will remove all four corners from your fabric. In the diagrams, these four areas are marked with an X.
It’s not easy to describe in words, so most of this will be repeated in the “cutting” directions, our next step.
If you place the box (blue) in the center of the square of fabric (gray) you’ll see the following
- fold lines (orange dotted lines)
- diagonal cut lines (black/orange)
- cut lines (orange solid lines).
- the X panels at each corner.
HOW TO CUT YOUR FABRIC
Step four is cutting the fabric. For me, the diagrams and pictures really help. If the step-by-step instructions are a better way for you, keep reading!
Reading the following instructions, try to concentrate on the solid orange lines, the cut lines.
To create the shape in the fabric you will use, you’re cutting the shape of a “cross” or “plus sign” from the fabric, and each of the arms are slightly wider than the width of the box. (The fold lines are exactly in line with the corners of the box.)
In fact, I’ll refer to that plus sign or cross shape as top, bottom, left, right, just to keep instructions straight.
The part people sometimes don’t anticipate is the short diagonal cuts that go out from each corner of the box. They are a couple of inches long, and are necessary. (Marked D on the diagram)
Another way to view it is this: Look at what you will remove from your square of fabric. The four outer sections (marked X) will be cut away. Imagine cutting away each square. That’s your first cut.
Then you will make four small diagonal cuts to reach just to the box corners.
Important: The box outline is really important to leave intact. Don’t extend any cuts into the box outline. Doing that will leave a part of your box uncovered.
And don’t get lost here — This is all just to help you see the piece of fabric you’ll be working with as you begin to cover the box.
(Remember –you are reading the entire post before you get out those scissors.)
Reading over the rest of the instructions will bring it all together.
You’ve cut your fabric!
Let’s see what the next steps look like.
AFTER CUTTING THE FABRIC, IRON ALL THE FOLD LINES.
Step five is ironing the edge folds of your fabric. Now you’ll begin to see why it was important to note that the fold lines intersected with the box corners. The diagonal lines are what connected the long cut lines to the box corners.
The “arms” of the fabric will now line up perfectly with the dimensions of the box.
If you make all the folds as shown, in the later steps I’ll show you how to fit them around the corners neatly.
I have to iron the folds in. It helps mark the folds better and helps you keep everything lined up. Otherwise my folds don’t behave well.
After you make the folds in the diagram, also fold down the “end” of each arm just a half inch or so, to hide the raw edge.
Don’t worry if the folds don’t hold even after pressing. You’ll be adjusting them differently in the next step. The crease of the fold is the important mark you’re after.
Now we have four “arms” of fabric to wrap our box. Each edge of the arm is pressed into a fold.
If you study the next diagram, you’ll see the folded edges after the cuts have been made.
COVERING THE BOX
Step six is securing your fabric around the box. Finally!
Now it really will feel like you’re learning how to make a fabric covered box.
We’re actually to the step of covering the box.
Each of the arms will cover a side of the box, and will overlap the top.
To do this, you’ll work with opposite sides. Looking at the diagram, we will start with top and bottom, and glue these two into place the same way. Then we’ll do left and right, with a slightly different attachment.
Before you use any glue, consider just a dry practice to be sure you see how it works on each side.
And please accept my apologies. During the actual gluing I failed to make pictures. Gotta respect that glue gun, right? But look carefully at the pics below at different stages in the process. You can see opposite sides, folded vs unfolded, over the top, etc.
TOP AND BOTTOM
For the top and bottom panels, you’ll unfold those edges that you pressed earlier. Don’t worry — the folds will help you place the fabric properly.
Start with the top “arm”. You’re going to flatten the fabric to the side of the box, and allow those folded edges to wrap around the corners, overlapping the adjacent sides on the outside of the box.
If you like to work with spray adhesive, you’ll apply the adhesive onto the box and then smooth the fabric up from the bottom. Continue by gluing down the unfolded flaps around the corners.
If you prefer hot glue, and I do, it works nicely to lay down a line of glue along the top edge and bring the fabric up to it. Then run another line of glue along the adjacent side where the now-unfolded flap will go around the corner, and carefully place it. Having a popsicle stick or some other tool really helps save your fingers here!
For both the top and bottom panels, the process is the same: We will open up those folds and wrap the corners.
When you reach the top edge of the box, bring the fabric right over the edge and glue it down inside.
This is the point you’ll use the raw-edge-fold you made earlier before gluing down that final edge. Tuck it under before gluing, and that stringy edge will be completely hidden.
(There will be raw edges along the extended sides of the fabric panel that go around the corners. Don’t worry. These will be covered in your next step.)
Remember: Follow this exact sequence for both the top and the bottom.
LEFT AND RIGHT SIDES
It’s almost the same process. What’s different is this: Leave those side folds folded, not wrapping the corner.
Yep, your fabric on the left and right sides will stay tucked and folded, making a nice glued edge.
This panel of fabric will go straight up the sides, with those folds just at the edge. The previous “wrap” will hide the box beneath the glued seam.
For you hot glue lovers, this time consider working your way up the sides, gluing those folded edges down to the previously-glued fabric. Finish with the top edge, a bead of glue along the outside.
Glue the panel by smoothing the fabric up the sides and over the top, leaving the folds in all the way.
At the end, inside, be sure to turn down the raw edge. Then glue it down.
Follow this sequence for both the left and right sides.
Wow! The box is covered! A lot of tutorials end here. Depending on your intended use, that may be true for you!
For me, only two things are left, and they are the easiest and the most fun.
Step seven is making a covered “floor” inside your box. It’s optional. At this point, you can be finished, or you can create a “floor” inside the box. It’s easy. The flaps you removed — put them together as if they were in place on the box. Tape them together snugly, and place them on one of the squares of fabric you removed. (Again, wrong side is up.) Hot glue the fabric over this panel like wrapping a present neatly. Then flip it over and tuck it snugly into the box.
You did it!
Step eight is the embellishments!
Time to raid the craft room! If you would like to embellish your box with ribbon, buttons, grommets, a flower, or a tag, this is the step that makes it really fancy. Be as creative as you like.
I hope you’ll be inspired to try covering some of your boxes with fabric.
There are some really helpful online tutorials for this that were a huge help to me when I started this project. Here’s one: Lined Canvas Bins at Positively Splendid. And if you like the liners, there are also helpful instructions for that. Here’s one: French Desk Set: Basket Liners.
Here’s a printable “infographic” for the step-by-step instructions for this project.
Just click on the image to get to the printable version.
Do you wonder what you’d keep in these? Obviously books, towels, toys. But what else? Maybe nothing that might spill/stain, but possibly unopened bottles of shampoo or cleaner?
If you missed it, I did a post about storing toys in these boxes, and promised to follow up with a tutorial for covering boxes. (Like, a year ago!)
I hope this was helpful if you were looking for a way to make fabric-covered boxes. It certainly is a custom way to create storage that reflects your personal style.
What would you do to embellish? I’ve used tags, flowers, buttons, etc..
Thank you! At GFP company is always welcome!
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Thanks for sticking around for this week’s tip!
There are a lot of tips for decorating. Even with an avid interest I’ve only scratched the surface. One really helpful tip was this: In trying to coordinate fabrics, it seems easy to match fabric color and weight. It’s mixing prints that’s confusing. How do they always get it right? Here’s what I was told: Pick one large print, one medium print, and one small print. Thanks! It was a huge help.
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