Take-away Menu Holder

I recently made a take-away menu holder to help keep the kitchen tidy and I thought I'd share it with you in the form of a tutorial.

What you'll need

• Main fabric - one fat quarter
• Medium to heavy weight iron on interfacing 7-1/2"x9-1/2"
• Binding fabric - 2"x15" for pockets, 2"x35" for outside edge
• Matching sewing thread
• Magnetic paper  - 6-1/2"x8-1/2"

This will make a menu holder large enough to hold A5 size menus (approx 6"x8-1/2").  Ours holds about 9 menus all together and holds comfortably on the fridge.

Cut 3 rectangles of fabric 7-1/2"x9-1/2", cut one rectangle of interfacing the same size

Cut one of these rectangles of fabric into two, 7-1/2"x6-1/2" and 7-1/2"x3".  These are your front pockets.

Cut 2 strips of binding fabric 2"x7-1/2" long each.  Press the long sides into the centre, wrong sides together, creating a single fold binding (use a bias tape maker if you have one) and then press in half.

Unfold and attach one side to the WRONG side of your pocket pieces.  Ensure you are attaching it to the top edge of the pocket.  (I didn't cut my binding to length until after I attached it).

Press the binding over to the right side and top stitch down.

Lay out your fabric on top of each other in this order (bottom to top):

1. Rectangle without interfacing, wrong side up
2. Rectangle with interfacing, right side up
3. Large front pocket, right side up
4. Small front pocket, right side up

Ensure that all layers line up along the bottom edge/corners
(ignore my stitching on the back layer, that was something that didn't work in the end)
Pin these layers together, or if you prefer, sew around the outside edges with a 1/8" seam allowance

Cut a strip of main fabric 1-1/2" wide x width of fat quarter.  Fold in thirds, wrong sides together, so that the inside raw edge is against the crease but the outside raw edge falls in the middle of the strip.

Zigzag over the raw edge with matching thread.

Cut the strip into 4 equal lengths.  Arrange them on the back of your menu holder as shown in the photograph, with the top and bottom points in the centre of the rectangle.  Ensure that all raw ends of the strips are outside the edge of the rectangle (they must be caught into the binding).  Pin or baste in place.

Cut a length of binding fabric 2" x approx 35".  Fold and press as above, then fold and press a 1/4" hem on one short end.  Starting with the end of the binding that you just pressed the hem on, attach binding to the back, mitering the corners as you go.  When you reach the beginning again, overlap the end of the binding as per photo.

Press the binding over to the front of the menu holder, ensuring that the raw edge is tucked under the 1/4" hem.

Top stitch the binding down from the front.

Cut a piece of magnetic paper approximatly 6-1/2"x8-1/2" and slip under the straps on the back.

Attach to fridge and insert your menus.

Order pizza and enjoy the rest of your evening!