15 Minute Easy Fabric Tray

My husband and I have a habit of tossing keys on a console table in our hallway and I started noticing little scratches and scuffs on the table that started driving me a bit crazy. I knew I had to get a bowl or tray or something to put keys in but I never found one I liked (or thought was worth spending money on). To be honest, we had a really pretty mosaic bowl for that I got a couple of years ago but....it now holds earrings and rubber bands and spoiled watches etc on our dining table for that matter( No, I'm not ashamed of myself...okay maybe a little. Lol). Instead of clearing that one out, a new one seemed like a better idea. And in the light of this recession we are in the middle of, I am of the opinion that the DIY route is the way to go.

Offending Keys

So, Rambling over. Let's get to it, shall we?

What You Need:

- Two pieces of decor weight fabric( More on this later) cut to your desired size
-Sewing Machine or Needle&Thread
-4 Pins
-15 minutes of your time

Seriously, that's it!!



Get two fabrics of choice. Decor weight fabric is ideal. It's fabric that's lighter than upholstery fabric but heavier than bed sheet fabric. It has some weight to it so the tray can stand on it's own better. If you go to a fabric store in Naija, ask for 'American Cotton'. I really wanted a pink fabric but was afraid Oga Hazel would cop onto the fact that I had been sneaking pink into the house little by little. Hehehe. These were left over fabric from previous projects.

 Iron out both fabrics and cut them to your desired size. Put right sides together and sew round.  When sewing, leave a small space open so you can turn the fabric out later. If using a sewing machine, simply lift needle and presser foot and drag the fabric backwards. Return the presser foot when you've left your desired length of space and continue sewing. Before turning the fabric out, snip all four corners at an angle shown below so the corners stay as flat as possible after turning.

Leave a small space on one end so you can turn fabric out later.

Snip all four pointy corners like in the above

Turn fabric out and if using  a sewing machine or can sew neatly with a needle and thread (if you can, I envy you), you can topstitch the edges. This gives it a more refined look and also loses that space you left for turning seamlessly. This step is completely optional. Otherwise, just sew the space shut.

Turned out

Top Stitching

We are almost done!!! Next, grab each corner and fold into a point (see below). Measure how long you want each point to be ( I used 1.5 inches), mark and pin to secure. Note; the longer the point, the deeper the tray. By now, you should see your tray formed. Sew down each one, take out the pins and ta-da you're done!

Fold, Measure, Pin and Sew

I feel like I should have made mine smaller before earrings, dead batteries and stuff start creeping in...hehehe. But overall, I'm happy with it. Please give this a try and let me know if you do. 

Better!