TUTORIAL – Tissue box cover / couch and bus

This whole adventure started out by my stepmother sending me this tissue couch…

I thought it was so cute. I had to make some more for my friends. I searched for a pattern and didn’t find any, but how hard could it be. During my search, I happened upon a box cover that looked like a school bus. It was made out of felt. And the sewing begins.

Here is my school bus. It looks almost exactly like the one I found.
  rear view

Here is the couch/bed box cover for my older son’s teacher…

I say couch/bed because it looked like a bed afterwards. lol. So, I had to make 2 little pillows for it. No napping in class though.Well, I can give a short tutorial. I’m not that great at this explaining stuff, since I speak my own language…
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These measurements are for a large box of 200. You’ll have to adjust for the square box.

Step 1: Cut your fabric.

2(9.5″ x 5.5″) top
(28.5″ x 6.5″) sides/bottom
2(3.5″ x 19.5″) couch back
16″ piece of 1/4″ elastic
scrap pieces of batting or fiberfill

Step 2: Take your ‘couch back’ pieces.
Lay them with right sides facing RSF.
Fold them in half.
Measure in, from fold, 4.5″. mark this spot. This is the back of your couch.
On the rest of the pieces, draw out your couch arm.
Cut on your draw marks.
I hope I didn’t confuse you.
Sew around the top edge of your ‘couch back’.
Sew down the center, to make the pillowed back.
Sew down where the arms meet up with the back.
Flip right side out, Stuff each section. Baste the raw edge.
Step 3: Take your ‘top’ pieces and fold them lenghtwise WSF, wrong sides facing.
Either pin them closed, or baste.
Lay them on top of each other with folded edges on same side.
Sew down the folded edges, using a very small seam…I zig-zaged the edge….
leaving a big gap in the center for the tissues to come out.

Step 4: Zig-zag, or fold over, one long edge of your ’sides/bottom’ piece.
Fold over 1/2″ and sew right along the edge. Leaving enough room to let the elastic move easily.
Insert your elastic piece into the tube. stitch on the ends to hold in place.
Fold RSF, and stitch up end, matching up elastic tube.

Now comes the tricky part…..

Step 5: Baste the ‘couch back’ to the ‘top’.
Pin the ’sides/bottom’ all around the ‘top’, sandwiching in the ‘couch back’, RSF
Sew it all up, I found it easier to baste and remove the pins, then sew.

Step 6: Flip it right side out.
Insert box.
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The school bus was a little tricker. I used felt instead of fabric. I did it all the same, except for the ‘couch back’, of course I didn’t use that. I did however cut a 5″ x 2.5″ piece and curve it for the lights on the front. Then, just cut out some felt and decorate. I used yarn for the kids hair. The girl in the rear is supposed to be a pony tail. No one here has got that one yet. And the colored pieces on the bottom rear, are books. I stitched letters and numbers on them. No one got that either. lol

If I need to clarify anything let me know. I’m not good at explaining.