Reversible Tissue Box Cover Tutorial

These reversible tissue box covers are a quick, satisfying make that will add charm to your home decor while at the same time covering up those plain tissue boxes we all have in every room of our house.

For this tutorial, I used cute Reindeer Christmas fabric for one side and Patriotic Red, White and Blue for the other but these tissue box covers can, of course, be made in fabrics to match any holiday, your home’s decor or if giving as gifts, to match the tastes of the recipient.

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Click that link to go there and if you want to see just some of what you’ll be getting inside the membership be sure to check out my post announcing it.

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Once you have the paper pattern made, each cover takes about an hour to complete.

This tutorial is for non-directional fabrics.

Reversible Tissue Box Cover Tutorial

Materials required to make one reversible tissue box cover:

2 fat quarters or yardage for outside and lining

Heavy weight interfacing – For the cover in this tutorial I used 27 inches of Pellon 808 Craft-Fuse Fusible Interfacing White (<- affiliate link)

11″ of 1/2″ elastic (<- affiliate link)

Large sheet of paper for making the pattern – I used plain newsprint paper (<- affiliate link) leftover from our move. But if you don’t have something like that available you could tape sheets of printer paper together.

The usual sewing notions and tools: threads, pins, scissors, quilting ruler, rotary cutter, cutting mat (<- affiliate links) and seam ripper (for those of us who need such things.)

To create the tissue box pattern:

The size of tissue boxes can varying so the first step is to measure the tissue box that you will be covering.

Measure the top and write down the width and the length.

Measure the side of the box and write down the height.

My box measured: 4 ¾” X 9” X 3 ½”.

On a large piece of paper draw a straight line 5” from one side of your sheet of paper.

Next, draw a line 4 ¾” from the first line drawn. (Use the width of your tissue box.)

Make a mark about half way along the first line. Line up your ruler so that it is square on your pencil line and draw a line of dashes from the second line down to the first.

Now we’re going to do some very basic arithmetic. Divide the width and length of the top of the box in half. (Use a calculator if you don’t like doing fractions.)

Draw a long line 4 ½” from the line of dashes, extending it at least 3 ½” on either side of line #1 and line #2.

Draw another line 4 ½” on the opposite side.

Place your ruler on the line #1 and draw a second line of dashes 2 3/8″ away.  The lines of dashes are the center lines of the top of the tissue box cover pattern. These will be used in the final step of making the pattern.

Your pattern so far should look like this but adjusted to the measurements of your tissue box:

Draw lines 3 ½” (the height of the tissue box) from each of the solid lines 1 through 4 as shown in the drawing below:

Add the ½” seam allowances next.

To create the oval for the opening in the top of the tissue box cover, fold a 2”X5” piece of paper in half. Fold it in half again. Draw the desired shape and cut out.

Center the paper oval on the pattern by lining up the creases in the paper with the dashed lines. Trace around the oval.

The completed pattern will look like this:

Cut out the pattern.

To make the fabric tissue box cover:

Place the fat quarters right sides together. Trim off the selvages and square up.

Place the paper pattern on the fabric, pin and cut out.

Place the paper pattern on a double layer of Pellon 808 Craft-Fuse Interfacing(<- affiliate link.) Pin and cut out.

Trim off ½” from the sides and the ends. To hold the two pieces of interfacing together while trimming, I remove half the pattern and pin and then remove the other half of the pattern and pin.

Pin one piece of the interfacing over top of the pattern lining up the inside corners.

Trace the oval on the interfacing. You may find it easier to do this by holding it up to a window.

Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of each fabric.

Press up the hem.

Pin the outer fabric to the lining right sides together.

Stitch directly on the line of the oval.

Cut a slit in the middle of the oval. Trim, leaving 1/8” seam allowance. Notch all the way around.

Pull the outer fabric through the opening.

It should look like this:

Press well.

Topstitch 1/8″ all the way around the oval opening.

Take one corner of the outer fabric and fold it right sides together. Pin.

Stitch using ½” seam allowance.

Repeat for the other three corners. Sew the seams of the lining in the same way.

You should have something that looks like this:

Press all the corner seams open as shown:

Press the hem again on both the outside and the lining.

It will now look like this:

Pull the outer fabric down over the lining. Match seams and pin along the bottom of the tissue cover.

Cut two 5 ½” pieces of ½” elastic. (The width of your box plus ¾”)

Pin the elastic 1 ½” from each corner on the longest side, sandwiching the elastic between the outer fabric and the lining making sure that at least 1/2″ of the elastic is inside.

Topstitch 1/8″ from the edge all the way around the bottom of the tissue box cover.

Turn the cover right side out.

To make pressing the finished tissue box cover easier, slip a tissue box upside down into the cover. Press well.

Remove the tissue box and insert it right side up.

Christmas on one side…

And can be reversed for the 4th of July:

I’ve also made some covers to fit the shorter tissue boxes as well as the taller, square ones.

The method for drafting the pattern is the same. And as I mentioned earlier, once you have your pattern(s), each cover takes an hour or less to sew.

Want to see some of the other covers I’ve made using this tutorial?

Valentine’s Tissue Box Covers

And here are those one reversed for St. Patrick’s Day!

Here’s another pretty Valentine’s to St. Patrick’s Day tissue box cover.I actually keep that one out year round in my office because I love that heart fabric!

Need a gift for a sick friend or a baby shower gift? How about something colorful and bright like these ones I made for the Round Elements Fabric Challenge.I love the butterfly fabric I used for the reverse side of one of them. Luckily I have enough of it left to make another tissue box cover for myself. 🙂

As always, if you make something with one of my tutorials, I’d love to see a photo. You can e-mail me by clicking on the little envelope in the top banner. Or tag me @supermomnocape on Instagram, 1SuperMomNoCape on Facebook and 1SuperMomNoCape on Twitter.

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