Kids’ Toy Storage Part 2: Fabric Storage Cube Tutorial

If you’ve been following along with this series, welcome back! And if this is your first time here, don’t worry — this post stands on its own as a complete, beginner-friendly guide to sewing your own fabric storage cubes. In Part 1, we covered some general strategies for organizing a playroom and explored different storage solutions. Today, we’re rolling up our sleeves and actually making something: sturdy, washable, customizable fabric storage cubes that your kids will love and that will genuinely hold up to daily use.

These cubes are one of my all-time favorite DIY projects because the payoff is so high for the effort involved. Once you’ve made one, you’ll want to make a dozen. They’re perfect for toy cars, building blocks, stuffed animals, dress-up accessories, art supplies — basically anything a child owns in abundance. They stack neatly on shelves, they’re soft enough that little ones won’t get hurt bumping into them, and when they inevitably get sticky or dirty, you can toss them in the washing machine.

Let’s get into it.

Why Fabric Storage Cubes Are Worth Making Yourself

Before we dive into the tutorial itself, let me make the case for why you’d want to sew these rather than just buying a set from a big box store.

The primary reason is durability. Store-bought fabric bins are often made from a very thin non-woven polypropylene fabric that starts to sag, tear, and look ragged after a few months of heavy use by enthusiastic small humans. When you make your own, you choose the fabric — and you can choose something with real weight and structure.

The second reason is fit. If you have an IKEA Kallax, a cube bookshelf from Target, or any other storage unit with specific interior dimensions, you know the pain of buying bins that are just slightly too big or too small. When you sew your own, you control every measurement down to the centimeter.

The third reason, and honestly the most fun one, is personalization. You can use your child’s favorite colors, a fabric printed with dinosaurs or unicorns, a pattern that coordinates with the rest of the room. You can embroider a name or a category label right onto the front. These little cubes become part of the room’s decor rather than an eyesore you’re trying to hide.

And the cost? A set of quality cotton canvas or home decor fabric runs much less than a set of premium store bins. You’re looking at a few dollars per cube once you’ve got your supplies in hand.

What You’ll Need

Let’s talk materials before we get to the steps. Gathering everything in advance makes the actual sewing go much faster.

Fabric choices are important here. You want something with body — quilting cotton alone will be too floppy. The best options are home decor weight cotton, canvas, duck cloth, or a mid-weight linen blend. You can also use two layers of quilting cotton fused together with interfacing if that’s what you have. For a standard 11-inch cube (which fits most Kallax-style shelves), you’ll need about one yard of exterior fabric and one yard of lining fabric per cube. If your cubes are smaller, you can get two out of a yard.

Interfacing or batting gives the walls of your cube structure so it stands up on its own. Fusible fleece or a stiff woven interfacing works beautifully here. This is the secret ingredient that separates a floppy bag from a cube that holds its shape.

Thread in a coordinating color — go with a quality thread since these cubes take a beating.

A handle is optional but very useful. You can cut a strip of coordinating fabric, fold and stitch it into a loop, and attach it to the front or top of the cube. It makes it easy for kids to pull the bin off a shelf without dumping the contents everywhere.

Here’s your complete supply list for one standard cube:

One yard of exterior fabric (home decor weight or canvas), one yard of lining fabric, one yard of fusible fleece or stiff interfacing, matching thread, a ruler or cutting mat with a rotary cutter if you have one (scissors work fine too), pins or wonder clips, an iron and ironing board, and a sewing machine with a standard straight stitch.

Understanding the Measurements

For a finished cube that measures 11 inches wide by 11 inches tall by 11 inches deep (fitting standard cube shelf units), you’ll cut your pieces to these dimensions:

The bottom panel: cut one piece of exterior fabric at 12.5 inches by 12.5 inches, and one matching piece of lining fabric the same size.

The side panels: cut four pieces of exterior fabric at 12.5 inches wide by 13 inches tall, and four matching lining pieces at the same size.

The fusible fleece: cut the same pieces as above — one bottom and four sides — from your interfacing.

These measurements include a half-inch seam allowance on all sides. The slight difference between the width and the height of the side panels accounts for the seam that attaches the sides to the bottom, which eats up a little length.

If you want a different finished size — say, a smaller cube for a desktop or a taller bin for a narrow shelf — you can adjust these numbers by simply adding one inch to your desired finished measurement for each dimension that has a seam on both ends. The bottom panel has seams on all four edges, and the side panels have seams on three edges (two sides and the bottom), with the top edge left open as the opening of the cube.

Step One: Fuse Your Interfacing

Iron your fusible fleece onto the wrong side of all your exterior fabric pieces according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This usually involves placing the rough, glue-dotted side of the fleece against the wrong side of your fabric, covering it with a damp press cloth, and pressing with a hot iron for several seconds at a time (don’t slide the iron — lift and press).

Let everything cool completely before moving on. If you try to handle the pieces while the glue is still warm, the layers can shift and bubble.

Once fused, your exterior panels should feel significantly stiffer and more structured. Hold one up — it should stand on its own with a bit of coaxing. That’s exactly what you want.

Step Two: Build the Exterior Box

Take your four exterior side panels. Working with two panels at a time, place them right sides together and sew along one short edge with a half-inch seam allowance. Press the seam open. Add the third panel the same way, then the fourth, and finally join the fourth panel to the first to make a loop — essentially an open rectangle of fabric.

Now you have a tube. The seams are the four vertical corners of your cube.

Attach the bottom piece next. With the tube still right-side-out, pin the bottom panel to the bottom edge of the tube, right sides together, matching corners. The corners of the bottom panel should align with the seam lines of the tube. Sew all the way around, pivoting at each corner. Clip the corners close to the stitching line without cutting through it — this helps the corners lie flat when you turn it out.

Turn the exterior box right-side-out and press well. The corners should be crisp and the sides should stand up on their own.

Step Three: Build the Lining Box

Repeat the same process with your lining fabric pieces, but leave a gap of about four to five inches unsewn along the bottom edge. This gap is your turning opening — it’s how you’ll flip the whole thing right-side-out at the end.

Don’t skip this step or forget that gap. Ask me how I know.

Step Four: Make the Handle (Optional but Recommended)

Cut a strip of exterior fabric that measures 3 inches wide by 10 inches long. Fold it in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. Open it up, fold both long edges to the center crease, fold in half again, and press. Topstitch along both long edges. You now have a sturdy, finished strap.

Fold the strap into a loop and pin it to the right side of one of the exterior side panels, centered horizontally and about an inch down from the top edge. The raw ends of the loop should point upward, aligning with the top edge of the panel. Baste in place with a scant quarter-inch seam. This handle will be caught in the final seam when you assemble the cube.

Step Five: Attach the Lining to the Exterior

With the exterior box right-side-out and the lining box wrong-side-out (inside-out), place the exterior box inside the lining box so that the right sides are facing each other and the top edges are aligned. The lining will be on the outside at this point, which looks a little strange, but trust the process.

Pin all the way around the top edge, matching the corner seams of the exterior with the corner seams of the lining. Sew all the way around with a half-inch seam allowance.

Reach through the gap you left in the lining’s bottom and pull the entire cube through it, right-side-out. It will feel like a magic trick every single time, no matter how many of these you make.

Push the lining down into the exterior cube. Use a blunt tool like a chopstick or a knitting needle to push out the corners from the inside. Press the top edge carefully, rolling the seam so it sits right at the top rather than receding to one side.

Step Six: Close the Gap and Finish

Fold the raw edges of the gap in the lining’s bottom panel to the inside by a half inch on each side, press, and pin. Either machine stitch close to the edge or hand sew with a ladder stitch. Either is fine since this seam is hidden inside the cube and won’t show.

Push the lining fully into the cube. Topstitch around the entire top opening about a quarter inch from the edge. This topstitching does double duty — it gives the top a crisp, finished look, and it also keeps the lining from creeping up out of the cube over time. You can do a second row of topstitching a half inch from the edge for extra security and a more professional finish.

Give the finished cube one final press, pushing your iron into the corners to get them really sharp.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

The cube doesn’t stand up on its own. This usually means the interfacing wasn’t heavy enough, or there wasn’t enough of it. The fix is to cut additional pieces of fusible fleece and iron them onto the existing panels — you can layer interfacing. Alternatively, you can cut a piece of stiff plastic canvas (found in the needlework section of any craft store) to fit inside each panel as an insert.

The corners look soft and rounded instead of crisp. This means you need to clip more aggressively at the corners — get as close to the stitching as you dare without cutting through it — and push the corners out from the inside more firmly. A pointed tool really helps here.

The lining peeks out over the top. When you topstitch, roll the seam slightly toward the inside before you press and stitch. You can also press the lining down about a sixteenth of an inch below the exterior before topstitching to guarantee it stays hidden.

The seams are pulling apart after washing. Always backstitch at the beginning and end of every seam. For the bottom of the box especially, where the most stress lands, consider sewing around the bottom panel twice for extra reinforcement.

Making a Set: Planning for Multiple Cubes

Once you’ve made one, you’ll almost certainly want more. Here’s how to set up efficiently for batch sewing.

First, cut all your pieces at once. Rotary cutter and self-healing mat are your best friends here — you can layer several fabrics and cut multiple identical pieces in a single pass. Spend an hour cutting and you’ll have pieces ready for six or eight cubes.

Second, chain piece wherever possible. Feed pieces through the machine one after another without lifting the presser foot or cutting the thread between them. You’ll end up with a chain of pieces connected by a few stitches of thread that you snip apart afterward. This saves a surprising amount of time.

Third, consider a color system. Use different exterior fabrics to color-code by category — red cubes for cars and trucks, green for art supplies, blue for puzzles, and so on. Young children who aren’t reading yet can use color as a guide to where things belong, which actually makes cleanup faster and more intuitive.

You can also add iron-on labels or embroider category names directly onto the front panel before assembly. Do this step right after fusing the interfacing, while the panel is still flat and easy to work with.

Caring for Your Fabric Cubes

One of the best things about these cubes is that they’re washable, but a little care in the washing will keep them looking great longer.

Empty them out completely and turn them inside-out before washing. Wash on a gentle cycle in cold water. Reshape them while damp and let them air dry — a dryer can cause the interfacing to delaminate or bubble, especially after repeated use. If the corners get a little soft from washing, a few passes with a hot iron will perk them right back up.

Spot cleaning works for most everyday toy-room grime. A damp cloth and a little dish soap handles crayon marks, sticky fingers, and mystery substances without requiring a full wash.

What’s Coming in Part 3

Now that you’ve got your fabric storage cubes sorted, Part 3 of this series is going to take things in a different direction — we’ll be looking at a DIY wooden toy box with a lid that doubles as a bench seat. It’s a slightly more involved build but still totally achievable for a beginner with basic woodworking tools, and the result is a piece that will genuinely last for years and can even be passed down.

Until then, I’d love to see what you make with this tutorial. If you sew up a set of these cubes, share a photo in the comments or tag me on social media. There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing the different fabric combinations people come up with — every set is completely unique, and that’s exactly the point.

Happy sewing, and happy organizing. Your playroom (and your sanity) will thank you.