Car Accessories to Make (Tutorial)

Cars are kind of a big deal to me. Not because I’m so interested in them, but because they represent all the hours and hours of hard work I’ve put in to save for the expense of a new one. Sadly, I hit two deer late last spring (apparently not very hard - they both ran off - though it was pretty scary at the time!) with my beloved silver Toyota Corolla, and after much deliberation and weighing of options (many suggested by the insurance company), it seemed best to get a different car. That took a while, and during that time, I came across an Instagram reel of an influencer stocking her car. At first glance this seemed like a trivial idea, but by the time I was done watching, I had garnered a bunch of useful sewing ideas for outfitting my new car! 

These directions are for plain fabric, but you can see from the photos that I used two different ones in various designs. You can piece your fabrics any way you want! You could use scraps and make them look more quilted; you could put appliqués on them; you could embroider (or do some fancy stitches like shown here); the possibilities are endless! All you need to make sure is that you have pieces that end up the sizes listed below. 

(I would call this an “advanced beginner” project, as I have written the directions with the assumption that there is some sewing experience and not everything is broken down exactly.)

To make all of these, you will need: 

1/3 yard EACH of two coordinating fabrics (or 2/3 yard if using only one fabric); you may need more if getting more creative with your piecing. 

1 coordinating package bias tape

1 spool thread to match bias tape 

6” x 12” piece of clear plastic vinyl

1/8 yard Zorb batting (or regular cotton batting if not available)

1/3 yard 60” batting (1/2 yard 45” batting); doesn’t matter if it’s fusible or not 

1/2 yard coordinating 1” strapping

(Optional, but makes this project much easier!) Plastic foot for your machine 

Thread 

Compass

Ruler

Marking Pen 

Paper 

Glue

Clips (work a little better than pins for some of this)

Cutting information: I cut these projects out in the order they are listed, and the trash bag took the most fabric and the coasters and bows I could fit out of scraps. 

Note: all seams are 3/8” unless otherwise noted. 

 Trash Bag:

Tape two pieces of printer paper together by the long end (it should be roughly 11” by 16”). 

Square it off so you have a piece that measures 11” by 9”. 

Fold in half so it measures 5.5” by 9”. 

From one of the non-folded corners measure 2.25” up and 2.5” over. Use a ruler to mark this rectangle and cut it out. Mark the strap placement 2” in from each edge. When you are done, your paper should look like the photo below. Mark to cut on the fold at the bottom (as shown), and the strap placement as 2” in from the sides at the top. 

Placing this template on the fold, cut one each of fabric, lining, interfacing and batting. Mark strap lines on the lining piece. 

Iron interfacing to wrong side of the lining. 

Baste (or iron if using fusible batting) the batting to the wrong side of the main fabric. 

With right sides together, folded in half at the cut out fold, sew the sides of the fabric together. Do the same thing to the lining. 

With right sides still together, flatten out the open square at the bottom of each piece to center the seam just sewn (see picture above). Turn right side out.  

Repeat above steps with the lining. Do not turn right side out. 

Pin strap to lining where marked (cut ends of strap should line up with the raw edge of lining, with strap going down into the bottom). If you want the bag to go over the headrest, leave it longer; if you want it over the console, make it shorter (I didn’t trim mine for the photo below to show how it should look). 

With right sides together, pin the lining to the fabric, and stitch with leaving an opening between the straps. Pull through opening to right-side out. Topstitch 1/4” from the edge to finish off. 

Registration Holder 

(This is where the plastic foot for your machine will come in handy) 

Cut one piece each of fabric, interfacing and lining 14” by 6”. 

Cut two pieces batting 6” by 6”. 

Cut two pieces of clear vinyl 6” by 5.5”. 

Cut two lengths of extra-wide double-fold bias tape 5.5” long 

Sew one piece of double-fold bias tape to each of the vinyl pieces on one of the short sides (5.5”). 

Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the lining. 

Place the two pieces of batting on the wrong side of the fabric, lining up the outer edges (there should be a 1” gap in the center - see photo below). Baste on (or you can quilt it, or use some fancy stitches to hold it). 

Line the pieces of vinyl up with the outer edges of the right side of the lining. The bias tape edges should face towards the center, with a 2” gap between them. (See photo below)

Lay your fabric right side down, place the lining piece on top of it with the vinyl facing up (wrong sides should be together). Pin (or clips do work better here) and baste together. 

Use a rotary cutter and ruler, straighten out edges. Then using glass and marking pen mark and round off all four corners. 

Finish off the edge seam using bias tape with your favorite method.

Kleenex Holder 

Cut one piece of fabric 6” by 10.5”. Cut a piece of lining fabric 12” by 6” (the lining will show as a boarder along the opening). Cut a piece of batting 11” by 6”. 

Sew the lining to the fabric by the short sides do you have a circle that is 6” tall. Iron the seams flat so you have a rectangle approximately 6” by 11” (the outside should have a small amount or the lining showing on each end - see below photo). 

Place the piece of batting between the two layers. 

Mark the center of the cut edges on each side. Fold the edge towards the center with right sides together and pin. Baste down with 5/8” seam on each side.  

Finish off raw edges with double-fold bias tape, and turn right side out. 

Cup Coasters 

Makes Two

Note: this project has 1/8 inch seams. 

Set a compass to 1.625” and draw a circle on a piece of paper. It should measure 3.25” in diameter, and will be the pattern for cutting out the fabric. 

Next set your compass to 1.5” and draw a circle on paper (should be 3" diameter). This will be your batting pattern. 

Cut four circles from the fabric. 

Cut two circles from the  batting. 

Center one piece of the batting and baste it to the wrong side of one of the fabric circles. Do the same with the other piece of batting. 

With right sides together, pin a batting/fabric circle to a non-batting circle. Stitch 1/8” from edge, leaving a 1” opening. 

Turn right side out and use your fingers (or a point turner) to smooth out the edges. Tuck the raw edges from the opening back inside (it will take some finagling to get it round - be patient!) and pin in place. Topstitch around the edge, 1/8” from the outside. Pull out basting stitches. 

Bows for Bag Holders

Makes Two

Cut two pieces of fabric 4” by 8”.

Cut two pieces of contrasting fabric 3” by 6”. 

Cut one strip of fabric 1” by 4”. 

Fold each piece in half, right sides together, and stitch along raw edges leaving an opening approximately 1” for turning. 

Clip corners and turn right side out. Press. 

Fold the 1” by 4” piece in thirds the long way (should be approximately 1/2” by 4” when done). Stitch along the sides (it is okey that the edges are not finished off on the back. They won’t show and will not get washed, so it’s fine!). Cut in half so you have two pieces 2” long. 

Set smaller contrasting piece on top of larger piece. Scrunch in the center to make a bow shape.

Wrap small strip around and glue down in the back. Glue onto bag holder clips.