Well, unfortunately, cold and flu season is here, and I caught a doozy of a cold this week while traveling. I’ve even lost my voice, which has been no fun and I’ll tell you more about that in a future post. Needless to say, I’ve been going through tissues like crazy, which reminded me that I’ve been wanting to share this quick and easy tissue holder with you.
Be sure to check out our popular Sewing Tutorials page for over 50 step-by-step sewing tutorials – many include detailed videos!
This project is so quick and simple to sew. Really, it only took a few minutes to make. If you wanted to make several of them, you could make them assembly line style and make them even quicker.
This tissue holder makes a great teacher’s gift or stocking stuffer. Who doesn’t carry tissues around in their purse or bag?
They also come in handy if you make them from the leftover scraps of a home decor project. You’ll always have your fabrics available in your purse if you need to match your fabrics when buying accessories or other items for the room.
The tissue holder is a great use for those little fabric scraps that are too small for most projects. I used some scraps from some pillows that I made.
**UPDATE – I’ve created a video for a simpler version of this tissue holder. You can find it here:
Tissue Holder
Materials needed:
Fabric for outside
Fabric or lining for inside
Fabric for cording (optional)
Small cord or string (optional)
Thread
Instructions:
1. Cut a 7″ wide x 6″ long rectangle from your face fabric.
2. Cut the same size rectangle of lining or inside fabric.
3. Make 12″ of small cording. I’ve written a post about how to make cording, if you’re unsure of how to make it. You can also skip this step and #4 and use a second fabric instead of lining for the inside of the tissue holder.
4. Sew cording onto the face side of the 6″ ends of fabric.
5. Sew lining to the face side of fabric on cording edges. (6″ edges)
6. Turn right sides out and press.
7. Fold cording edges so that they meet in the middle. Wrong sides out. Sew along the two end sides using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Serge ends so they don’t ravel. If you don’t have a serger, you can zig-zag or use pinking sheers on the ends.
8. Turn right side out and insert your tissues.
I hope you enjoyed my quick and easy tissue holder tutorial today!
Here are some of my favorite sewing supplies:
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
- Singer Heavy Duty 4411 sewing machine – The Singer Heavy Duty 4411 is the sewing machine that I bought a few months ago, and I love it! It has all of the features that I mention above. It has a metal frame, so it doesn’t shake when I sew on it. The strength of the motor is 60% stronger than the average sewing machine, so it has some power! It has 11 basic stitches, including the straight stitch, zig-zag stitch. It also has a 4 step buttonhole feature. It is more powerful than a lot of plastic, inexpensive home sewing machines, so it sews faster (1100 stitches per minute) and can sew through heavier layers of fabric.
- Glass head straight pins – These pins are 1 7/8″ long and are very sturdy. I find them much easier to work with than smaller pins, especially when I’m trying to pin several layers of fabrics together. The glass head won’t melt if the pins get too close to the iron.
- Magnetic pin bowl – I have several of these bowls around around my sewing studio. They aren’t made for pins, but are actually used by auto mechanics to hold metal parts when they are working underneath a vehicle.
- Hand-sewing needles – I love John James Long Darners for hand-sewing. They are long and sturdy.
- Leather thimble – This leather thimble made by Clover is very comfortable to use while hand-sewing. I think it’s much more comfortable than using a metal thimble.
- Sew grip gloves – These gloves help you grip fabric, threads or strings. I find them very useful when I need to pull threads or strings when I’m gathering a sewing project. They only have one review on Amazon, and it’s not a very good one. They may not be good for some applications, but for what I use these gloves for, they work great.
- Thermal thimbles – I just recently started using these thermal thimbles. They’re very useful when you’re ironing a sewing project. They help protect your fingers from the heat and steam of the iron. I’m adding this picture of my 3 year-old grand daughter in my sewing studio. She loves the thermal thimbles (she uses them like finger puppets – not with the iron), but was upset there weren’t 5 of them. So, she added a couple of thimbles.
- Seam ripper – I really don’t like when I have to do some “reverse sewing”, but when I do need to take out some stitches it helps to have a good seam ripper. I have two different kinds – one made by Dritz and the other made by Clover. Both work well. I think I prefer the Dritz seam ripper because it’s a little bit larger than the Clover seam ripper. Both have the red ball to help protect against ripping the fabric.
- That Purple Thang – I’ve been showing this tool in several of my pillow videos. It’s great for turning out corners, and I use mine all the time when I’m making pillows.
- OmniGrip grid measuring tool – This measuring tool is very useful for quilters, but I also use it when I need to measure for cording or banding. It has markings for 1/8″ and 1/16″, and has useful angled markings.
- 18″ metal straight edge – I use this 18″ ruler to mark pleats for draperies and valances. It’s useful for measuring lots of different types of sewing projects. I like that it has 1/8″‘ and 1/16″ markings.
If you loved this sewing tutorial, you’ll love these sewing tutorials too:
I’m joining these parties.
KEYUTE!! And welcome home! Sorry about the cold!
Thanks Diane!
Cute idea!
This is so pretty with the cording. I like quick and easy. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Chrystal!
Great idea!
I’ve been trying to find a tissue holder for my car visor! They used to be every where (yes I’m the older generation)
They can’t be that difficult to make any suggestions ?
Thx
rtreimer @yahoo.com
Not difficult at all to make. Give it a try.
Thanks Kate!
I’m going to give a friend’s daughter some sewing lessons. This looks like a great beginner project. Thanks for sharing.
Angela, this would be a great beginner sewing project!
When I started reading this post I thought “Shoot! I wish I could sew. I really could use a couple of these! ” Then I saw your wonderfully detailed photos and I think even I (someone who knows how to thread the sewing machine needle but not much more) can do this. I am certainly going to try. 🙂
Wendy, sure you can make these! Very easy. Good luck!
This is so cute. My teen fashionistas are always remarking how the plastic tissue packs from the grocery store are ugly. I could make them (or they could make them themselves) a cute, fashionable cover now! 😉 Pinning!
Thanks Kim! They would make great stocking stuffers for your teens.
Great tutorial and they are so so cute! I don’t sew much, but I think even I might be able to pull this off. Thanks so much for sharing. Pinning for later!
Thanks Heather!
What an adorable idea and lovely gift this would make for the holiday season. This would also make a wonderful home ec project for kids in our homeschool lessons! Pinning and sharing 🙂
Thanks Jill! Yes, that’s a great idea to use the tissue holder as home ec project!
I really like this idea! My grandmother used to make these and I’ve been using her pattern but I love your addition of piping to the opening. This really dresses it up tremendously.
Thanks Mary! I love pipping or cording as an added detail for a lot of sewing projects.
I watched the video to learn how to sew cording. Soon I’m going to make this tissue holder. Looking forward to the finished product.
Thanks Shirley! I’m so glad the cording video was helpful. Good luck with your tissue holder!
Hi. A project that should be a few minutes turned out to be a few hours! Not because of the tutorial I made a few mistakes along the way.
Here’s a picture of the end result.
whoops! I don’t know how to attach a picture.
Shirley, sewing mistakes are very common around here! Unfortunately, they do slow us down. I’ll bet that if you make more of these tissue holders, they’ll go much faster now that you’ve made one.
This looks really clever & unusual–a great idea for Christmas gifts.
What is the material you used for the cover? I go to a fabric store and get overwhelmed very quickly, so usually end up with a thin cotton print. This looks much better than that.
Thanks Tom! It’s a home decorator fabric, so it’s heavier than a cotton print. I bought it a couple of years ago at my local Hobby Lobby.
very easy and good tutorial thanx
Thanks Dana!
I’m making a list of supplies to make one of these this weekend. I want to add an elastic to attach it to the passenger visor in the car. No more smashed tissue box tossed around in the car!
Safia, what a great idea to add elastic! Love it!
My daughter is going to college in August. She has a blood disorder that causes her to have many nose bleeds. She will need to have LOTS of tissues and unfortunately b/c there is limited space in the dorm rooms, I can’t send her with boxes of tissues b/.c they are too bulky. I saw your quick and easy tissue holder and I was wondering how large it is and can it hold a whole box of tissues?
Do you sell them? I do not sew so I would have to have someone make them for me.
No, this is very small. Made to fit in a purse.