Hanging Around Embroidered Kitchen Organizer

Keep your kitchen organized and small items handy with this Hanging Around Organizer. Perfect for storing mail, car keys, seed packets, and much more.

Choose your favorite embroidery designs, then use coordinating colors and fabrics to bring them all together.

Read below for these free project instructions!

To begin, prepare the fabric for the three pockets. 

Draw three 8 inch wide by 6 1/2 inch high rectangles on the lightweight canvas. Be sure to  leave a couple of inches of excess fabric around the shapes.

Using an air-erase pen (or other marking tool), mark 1/2 inch up from each bottom corner of the shapes. Draw lines to connect the marks. The area below the lines will be folded under later on. 

Find the center of the upper shape by measuring and marking the center of each side and dividing by two. Draw lines connecting the center marks - where the lines meet is the exact center of the upper shape. 

Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the design to help with placement and centering.

Poke a hole in the center of the template and align it with the center point on the fabric. Make sure the design fits well within the shape. There should be at least two inches of space between the edges of the design and the edges of the fabric.

Remove the template. Spray a piece of cutaway stabilizer with adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric.  Embroider the design.

When the design has finished, cut out the shape along the outer lines. Repeat the placement, hooping, and embroidering process for each pocket.

Now, cut strips of bias tape to the width of the top edges of the pockets. Wrap the tape around the top edge of each pocket and pin in place. Sew a 1/8 inch seam along the inner edge of the tape on the top of each pocket.

On the bottom edge of each pocket, measure and mark in 1-1/2 inches from each corner.

Pinch and fold the fabric over 1/2 inch at each mark. Lay the folds towards the outer edges and pin in place.

Tack the folds in place by stitching over the folds about 1/4 inch from the bottom edges of the pockets.

To prepare the front panel, cut a piece of the print cotton fabric 5 3/4 inches wide by 26 1/2 inches high. Position the top edge of the top pocket 3 inches down from the top edge of the front panel and pin in place. Position the top edge of the middle pocket 2 1/2 inches down from the bottom edge of the top pocket and pin in place. Finally, align the bottom edge of the bottom pocket with the bottom edge of the front panel and pin in place.

Fold the bottom edges of the pockets under 1/2 inch and sew a 1/4 inch seam across the bottom edges.

To prepare the back panel, cut a piece of lightweight canvas 5 3/4 inches wide by 26 1/2 inches high. Align the back panel with the back of the front panel with the wrong sides facing. Pin in place.

Align the sides of the pockets with the sides of the front panel and pin in place (place the pins in about 3/4 inch away from the outer edges for easy sewing).

Now we will add the outer binding. 

Fold the end of the bias tape or grosgrain ribbon in 1/4 inch and then wrap it around the edge of the organizer starting at the top right corner. Pin in place.

Sew a seam right along the inner edge of the tape. Add the tape (or ribbon) around the right edge, bottom edge, and left edge. Stop when you reach the top left corner but leave enough tape to cover the top edge.

Create the loop by cutting a length of tape or ribbon to 6 1/2 inches. Sew a seam along the open edge of the tape or fold the ribbon in half lengthwise and sew a seam along the open edge.

Form a loop and tuck the ends in between the front and back panels in the top center of the organizer. Fold the loop to the backside and pin in place.

Continue the tape along the top edge of the organizer and sew it in place (wrap the end over 1/4 inch before sewing to the end).

Your project is now complete!