DIY Hanging Organizer – Free Sewing Pattern

|
hanging-organizer-sewing-tutorial.jpg

I’ve got 2 beautiful new hanging organizers in my studio… thanks to you!

This was one of the sewing projects that you voted for me to make last year, and it turned out so well.

UPDATE: This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The blog post below is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download for $2 is totally optional.

hanging organizer.jpg

The DIY hanging organizers have generous half-circle baskets that can hold all kinds of things.

In my studio, I’m filling them with pre-cut fabrics, thread, and my tape measure collection. 🙂

In a bedroom the hanging organizer could hold socks, undies, and accessories.

In a bathroom – maybe tissues, reading materials, and toilet paper, lol.

What are you going to put in your hanging organizer?

_DSC0230.jpg

I used sturdy canvas for the back of the organizer and for reinforcing the pockets (this is similar to mine). The floral pockets are sewn from beautiful quilting cotton (Penelope from QT Fabrics). The graphic arrow pockets are made with cute Premier Prints home decor fabric. I reinforced the upper corners of the baskets by stitching triangles. And the bottom of each basket contains ultra firm stabilizer. These can hold a lot without sagging!

Are you ready for the free Hanging Organizer Sewing Pattern? Let’s sew!

DOWNLOAD THE PATTERN TEMPLATE HERE.

You will need:

  • 1 yard natural cotton duck canvas fabric, 60” wide

  • 3/4 yard coordinating fabric for the exterior of the baskets (pretty quilting cotton or home decor fabric both work great)

  • 1/2 yard Peltex 72F ultra firm double sided fusible stabilizer

  • a heavy duty sewing machine needle, 90/14 or 100/16 recommended

  • a 12” long piece of a 3/8” wooden dowel

  • 26” natural twine for hanging

  • pencil or fabric marker

  • Wonderclips (optional but very helpful for attaching the curved pieces)

_DSC0256.jpg

Cutting:

From the natural cotton duck fabric, cut:

  • 2 rectangles 31” x 13”

  • 3 rectangles 7” x 16 3/4”

  • 2 squares 5” x 5”

Oops! I pre-washed some of my canvas duck fabric and learned a lesson. It got big wrinkles that never came out, even with LOTS of ironing + steam. I’m using the fabric anyway, but I won’t make that mistake again.

From your pretty coordinating fabric, cut:

  • 3 rectangles 7” x 16 3/4”

and…

_DSC0246.jpg
_DSC0249.jpg

From the Peltex 72F stabilizer, cut:

  • 3 smaller half circles – trimming away 1/2” from the pattern template along the gray line and not folding the stabilizer.

_DSC0275.jpg
_DSC0278.jpg
_DSC0288.jpg

Sew the back of the organizer:

Use a 1/2” seam allowance.

1. Make the hanging tabs by folding the 5” squares in half and sewing along the long edge.

Press the seams open. Turn the tabs right side out and press them flat with the seam on the back of the strip.

Topstitch along both long edges, 1/4” from the edge.

_DSC0290.jpg

2. Fold the tabs in half with the seam hidden inside and pin the raw edges to the top edge of one of the 31” x 13” pieces of canvas.

The tabs should each be 2” away from the sides of the long piece.

Sew the tabs to the canvas back within the 1/2” seam allowance.

_DSC0269.jpg

3. Pin the two 31” x 13” canvas pieces right sides together (with the tabs in between).

Stitch all the way around the piece, leaving 6” open at the bottom for turning right side out.

_DSC0295.jpg
_DSC0298.jpg

Tip: Before turning, press the edges open. This will help the edges turn out completely.

Clip the corners.

4. Turn the organizer back right side out and push the edges and corners out completely. Press.

5. Topstitch all the way around 1/4” from the edge, closing the opening at the same time.

_DSC0301.jpg
_DSC0304.jpg
_DSC0306.jpg
diagram2-.jpg

6. Using a pencil or fabric marker, draw a 10” line along the bottom of the organizer, 1” above the bottom edge.

Connect the ends of that line with  6” tall vertical lines that are approximately 1” away from the sides of the organizer.

These are the placement lines for the lower basket.

7. Draw 2 more sets of placement lines, with 2” separating each basket.

The back of the organizer is finished. Set it aside while you make the baskets.


_DSC0258.jpg
_DSC0265.jpg

Make the organizer pockets:

1/2” seam allowance allowed.

1. Fold each circle in half and press. Place a half-circle of stabilizer inside, along the fold line. Fold in half again and press well on both sides to fuse the stabilizer completely.

Set the half-circle bottom pieces aside.

_DSC0272.jpg
_DSC0317.jpg

2. Pin a canvas and a coordinating fabric 7” x 16 3/4” rectangle right sides together along the sides and top edge.

Stitch the sides and top edge only with a 1/2” seam allowance.

Clip the corners. Turn the pocket right side out, and press.

3. Topstitch the top edge, 1/4” from the edge.

Baste the lower edges together within the 1/2” seam allowance.

Repeat Steps 2-3 to make the other 2 pockets.

_DSC0323.jpg
_DSC0325.jpg

4. Using a pencil or fabric marker, mark the center of the lower edge of the pocket rectangle and the center of the curved edge of the pocket half circle bottom.

Use small scissors to make 3/8” snips all along the bottom edge of the pocket rectangle. The clips should be at least every 3/4-1”.

_DSC0326.jpg

5. Clip (or pin) the bottom edge of the pocket rectangle to the curved edge of a half-circle pocket bottom.

The right side of the pocket should be against the pocket bottom. Start by matching the center marks first and placing a clip in the center. Then clip one of the edges. Add more clips to ease the rectangle around the curved edge.

_DSC0329.jpg
_DSC0331.jpg

6. Sew the curved edge. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4”and finish it with a zig zag stitch, or serge the edge to finish.

Attach all 3 pocket rectangles to half circle pocket bottoms.

_DSC0334.jpg
_DSC0338.jpg

Assemble the hanging organizer:

1. With the exterior (pretty) side of the pocket showing, pin the bottom straight edge over the 10” long straight line at the bottom of the canvas back.

2. Stitch along the straight bottom of the pocket, 1/8” from the edge.

_DSC0342.jpg
_DSC0351.jpg

3. One at a time, pin and stitch the sides of the pocket.

It doesn’t matter whether you start sewing at the top or bottom edges of the pocket sides, as long as you have pinned the edges to the placement lines first.

_DSC0230.jpg

Sew small triangles to reinforce the top corners of each pocket.

_DSC0229.jpg

4. Insert the 12” long dowel through the hanging tabs.

Tie the 26” long piece of twine to either end of the dowel with slip knots.

_DSC0365.jpg

Hang up your organizers and fill with stuff!

Tip: if you want to place heavier items in the pockets, use thumbtacks above the 3rd pocket  to secure the canvas back to the wall.

You might also like my blog post roundup of 11+ Free Sewing Projects to Make You More Organized.

xoxo,

Sharing is Caring!

Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂

Similar Posts

15 Comments

  1. Barbara Gilbert says:

    Well done, and beautiful! There’s just one problem – there’s no link to the pattern, and I couldn’t find it at Craftsy when I searched. I know you’ll have it fixed soon, but thought you should know.

  2. They look great. Thanks for making such an easy to follow tutorial. My friend has been wanting something like this for a long time. Must be time I make it 🙂

  3. Melissa Greenfield says:

    L💜ve it! Thank you so much for the tutorial.

  4. Virginia Marien says:

    Thank you for doing this pattern, I love it.

  5. Lin K Thomas says:

    Love your unique way of making deep pockets without using the usual pleat method. It was puzzling until I saw your fabulous tute pics where the bottom curve was sewn to the rectangle. Brilliant idea! As for the wrinkled cotton duck – try spritzing white vinegar directly onto the wrinkled fabric & pressing with a dry iron. I’ve gotten wrinkles and center fold creases out of many cotton fabrics by using the vinegar.

  6. Esther Sommer-Heiniger says:

    Thank you for the great pattern and the good description of how it is done.

  7. This is the perfect pattern for my jean re-purpose project! Thanks so much.

  8. I am excited to try this pattern out! Thanks so much for sharing.

  9. I LOVE This tutorial! Not only will this be so functional above my sewing machines, it’s exactly what I need to store all of my kids stuffed animals, barbies, and I could even hang it over a door in my cleaning closet to create extra storage. I’m gunna make SO many of these!

  10. Maggie Christie says:

    Thank you so much for this pattern. I’ve need this sort of thing for a while but found the plastic ones in shops so dispiriting. This is so much better!

  11. Hollie Beier says:

    I just made a scaled down version and hung it up on the garage door, so my kids would remember their MASKS! And, all 3 wear different sizes, so 3 pockets are perfect!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *