All those who love their sewing machines will surely agree that taking care of their prized possession is their number one priority. Just think how unbearable it is to think of a beautiful sewing machine, exposed to all the dirt and pollution in the air, and collecting the worst dust particles over time! Very cringy, right?
It is certain that you, too (if you love your sewing machine), would not be able to watch your sewing partner sit without their very own protective covering. Even if you clean it regularly and set it in a protecting place with the least amount of the dirt contacting it, a sewing machine without its cover will simply not suffice for long. Hence, to make sure that your pretty handy sewing machine does not get withered away due to the elements, all you have to do is sew your sewing machine some clothes! Even if you have a hard sewing machine cover, you can keep it to travel to wherever you want to take your sewing machine. But it is not ideal for near-daily usage. A hard-shell cover will warrant you to remove all the machine’s plugins. Moreover, it will add to the machine’s weight, which simply does not allow for comfortable carrying. Read for a sewing machine cover free pattern.
Benefits of soft DIY sewing machine cover
A soft fabric cover will help you cover and store your machine while it is not being used! It will also help the little prying hands off your mini sewing enthusiasts away from all those very tempting sewing machine knobs.
In fact, a machine cover is not only about saving your machine from little hands, but it is also about keeping those little hands from meddling with the needles, pins, and other machine parts that can hurt them. Just use a magnetic pin cushion, hide it in a small compartment of your machine cover, and you have it well hidden!
Additionally, there is no need for you to unplug your entire machine completely; otherwise, you may need to deal with remembering where you kept all your sewing essentials. A fabric sewing machine cover is just the thing that will provide space for everything.
Whether it is your foot press, broad rules, inch tapes, measures, measuring boards, etc. that you need to store along with your sewing partner, the cover will have you covered!
Besides, you can save a lot of time, money, and effort by building a dainty little cover for your lovely machine. So, how to stitch a sewing machine cover?
Make your sewing machine cover
As we begin with a straightforward’ how to stitch a sewing machine cover’ guide, let us take a peak on all the needed materials.
Materials you will be needing: -
- One and a half yards of main fabric / or roughly 1.4 meters main fabric. Using a sturdy, solid material is ideal. You can also use fabrics such as canvas, jeans, etc. that provide more support.
- You will also need one yard of the lining fabric or about 0.9 meters of the lining fabric. The lining fabric needs to be of sturdy material for maximum support.
- Also, get two yards or 1.82 meters of piping as per contrast with your primary fabric color.
- A thread that matches your primary fabric material
- You can also use fusible interfacing, but it is optional.
- Making your own bias piping is easy. You just need to get the fabric color you want for the piping and get a totally bias piping tape for your DIY sewing machine cover.
Beginning the process
Measuring your sewing machine
Begin by taking an inch measure and measure the following dimensions:
- Around your machine: Begin from the lower edge of your machine, measure upwards along the length, then horizontally along the width, and then downwards the length again.
- Now measure the width, length, and depth of the machine individually.
Next, we will begin by cutting our fabric.
Cutting the fabric and pieces required for sewing machine dust cover:
Spread your fabric along an even surface, and make sure there are no crumples or foldovers. Now, get a measuring tape and a marker to work along with this sewing machine cover tutorial.
- Front and back piece of cover: You will first need two pieces of the main fabric. Mark the machine’s width and length on the primary material. Cut this by the dimensions of length by width. Carry the same procedure on your lining fabric and cut two pieces from it.
- Top and the sides: Cut a long strip of fabric by marking the dimensions of around the machine length by your machine’s depth. You just need one piece of this for each of the main fabric and the lining fabric.
- Front pocket: Subtract 4” from your machine’s length and mark this as the front pocket length. Now draw your fabric with the front pocket length by the width and cut two pieces of this. You will not need a lining for the pocket.
- Side pockets: Cut two pieces of fabric by measuring the depth of your machine and by measuring 6” as the length against it. Cut two pieces of these too, and do not cut any lining.
Tip: You can keep half an inch extra of fabric in cut pieces for sewing and also for a comfortable fit when you put your cover on the machine.
Stitching process for the sewing machine cover free pattern
Step 1:
Take your bias piping and stitch it along the length of one side of the pocket piece by moving the stitch right next to the piping. Then take your other front pocket piece, join them right sides together and stitch it right next to the piping, too, and take out the right sides. Now, sew over the bottom of the piping. Repeat the process with the side pocket pieces.
Step 2:
Join the front pocket with the cover’s front piece, aligning the bottom widths and sew at the bottom with a stitch space of about 1/4”/. Repeat it with the side pockets and the side machine cover fabric. Do remember to backstitch. Then, stitch the piping around the front cover’s length by rounding the piping at the edges. Repeat the same for the back cover piece. You can use pins to hold the curves of the piping around the edges.
Step 3:
Place the side cover piece and front piece together by joining the right sides and the wrong sides showing out. Now align the length of the side cover piece first along one long side of the front cover piece, then along the top’s width, and finally down the length on the other sides again. Use pins to hold it together while sewing. Do check if the piping has turned out nice. Repeat the same steps again with the back cover piece and the side cover piece with the right sides together.
Step 4:
Sew all the lining pieces together, similarly as you stitched the main fabric. It will just not have the piping, but the rest of the process is the same. Together, the right sides align the bottom of the stitched lining cover with the bottom of the stitched main fabric cover. The stitches will be sewed on the cover body’s bottom side with a small cover opening left to push the lining cover into the main fabric. Complete a topstitch around the bottom and close the opening you used.
Tip: Pressing the cover along all the stitches helps in a better finish.
Your cute little sewing machine dust cover is ready to use with this simple sewing machine cover tutorial!