Casserole Carrier

When families in our community have a baby people in our church like to provide meals for them to ease them into the first few weeks of parenthood.

This Casserole Carrier was an idea I read about on an American website which I have adapted for this blog.

Since making it I have turned up on grateful parent's doorsteps armed with hot food thanks to the this cute and insulated carrier…why not follow these steps to make your own carrier.



You will need two lengths of fabric, the first should be 50cm by 100cm. Fold it in half length ways and lay a length of wadding 25cm by 100cm on top.

You can see from the photo on the left that I pinned around the open edges but left a 10cm gap in the centre of the long seam. You should sew across the top and down the side to the gap, and again from the gap down the side and along the bottom. As the other length (left on this picture) is the fold you won't need to sew down this side.

Once you have sewn this turn it all out through the 10cm gap. This gap will be covered up later so you don't need to sew it.






Now for the second piece of fabric which should be 35cm by 130cm. Fold it from top to bottom and measure a piece of wadding (35cm by 65cm) to cover over the top.

Pin along the bottom and top of the fabric and wadding.

Now for the complicated part! Insert the first rectangle you made into the unfinished second rectangle (see the photo).

You should insert one third of the finished rectangle through the two layers of fabric as seen in the photo with my hand. Pin this into place firmly before sewing across the top of the rectangle, the side with this inserted finished rectangle and along the bottom.

Now tightly fold the remaining two thirds of the finished rectangle over the wadding and pin down. You will not be sewing this into place just yet, but you will need to sew down the top and bottom of the final length on your rectangle.

It is important to pin the fabric and wadding (as pictured here) up to BUT NOT INCLUDING the folded finished rectangle. Once pinned now sew remembering not to sew the finished rectangle or the wadding/fabric directly underneath it.


You have created an envelope and should be able to turn the entire thing inside out to reveal a cross shape.

This photo pictures my hand revealing the hole you turned it all through, which will also be the final seam that needs to be sewn up.

Pin all the layers of fabric together and sew the envelope closed (as marked with pins in this photo). I did this with the sewing machine and it is the only seam to be seen. If you would rather then hand sew both sides closed which will make a neater finished product.

You will need velcro to sew into place on the top of one side of the fabric and on the back of the side it will join.

I found it easier to pin into place before sewing through the velcro and all the other layers.

Now for the fun parts...

Iron two small rectangles of fabric (9cm by 14cm) around a 5cm by 10cm rectangle of card. Creasing the fabric around the card means you will get a crisp finish and it will make it considerably easier to sew into place later.

You will need 150cm of strapping. Most haberdashery shops have strapping in an array of colours, so find one that matches your fabric.

Firmly sew the two ends together and lay the loop of strapping over the middle of the carrier. Make sure this is as equal as possible otherwise you will find that you have a wonky carrier!







Next lay the pressed rectangles over the middle of the straps, pin and sew around the edges. This will be enough to hold the straps into place, and by sewing them into place you create a lovely quilted effect.

So, here is the finished carrier ready to be used.

This design allows for a variety of sized dishes as the side rectangles expand around the dish. If you find it is too large for your dish you can add another strip of velcro to top and bottom panels.

This photo shows the same sized carrier but with two very different sized dishes.

Next month three ladies in our church are expecting babies…I shall look forward to arriving on your doorstep with hot food!