This tutorial shows you how you can easily make elasticized beeswax covers for bowls, rectangular baking dishes, or whatever you desire! The elastic is fully encased and the cover is sewn before adding the beeswax, so you won’t need to worry about gumming up your machine.
Beeswax wraps are great, but honestly, elasticized ones are just so much more convenient to use! Some of my favorite kitchen items are my elasticized, PUL bowl covers. I use them tons, but I only have 4 and always need more. Rather than buying new ones, I decided to make these beeswax bowl covers. I had also really been wanting a cover for my 9×13 baking dish, so I made one of those too. And although I will still be using my PUL covers, I do feel a little more comfortable if my food touches beeswax rather than plastic.
Supplies and materials
- 100% Cotton fabric, either quilting or similar (I used quilting cotton and a thrifted sheet)
- 1/4 inch braided elastic
- Sewing machine
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Pins or clips
- Safety pin
- Thread
- Pencil
- Iron and ironing board
- Beeswax
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet
How to make elasticized beeswax covers – cutting the fabric
Step 1 – First you need to prepare your fabric. Lay your dish upside down on top of the fabric and trace 2 1/2 inches all around. Then cut out your fabric.
Preparing the casing for the elastic
Step 2 – Next we are going to sew some ease stitches around the perimeter. Set your machine to the longest straight stitch (5 on my machine), and I like to lower the needle tension (2 on my machine, 4 is normal). Now, with the wrong side facing up, sew 1/4 inch all the way around, but don’t back stitch or overlap at the beginning or end, and also leave 4 inch tails.
Step 3 – Iron 1/4 inch to the wrong side, using the line you just stitched as a guide. Your bobbin tails will be coming out of the right side.
Step 4 – Now, fold another 1/2 inch to the wrong side and pin. Make sure you are folding straight down, without pulling the folded fabric to either side. I like to set my first pin where the bobbin tails come out, then directly across, and then every 3 inches or so from there.
Step 5 – Now that all the pins are in place, you can pull on your bobbin tails, gathering the fabric all the way to the center, directly opposite from the tails. I like to make it a little too gathered, then work from the center, pushing any extra gathering towards the tails, while making sure everything is folded 1/2 inch. It doesn’t have to be 100% perfect, because you can adjust a little as you sew.
See how that little bit of extra fabric is eased in?
Sewing the elastic casing
Step 6 – Once everything looks good, set your machine back to normal and edgestitch a scant 1/16 inch from the edge. Make sure to leave a small gap (about 5/8 inch) to feed the elastic through.
Step 7 – Use your seam ripper to cut only the ease stitches at the center (opposite the ease stitch tails), then pull on the long tails and they will come out easily. I then try to pull out the needle thread tails, but they usually break off inside… that’s ok!
Cutting and threading the elastic
Step 8 – For the elastic, you can multiply the diameter of your dish by 2.25. This is just to start, you will probably want to shorten it later.
Step 9 – Use a safety pin to thread the elastic through, then tie a secure knot. Don’t close the opening, that way you can adjust the elastic later.
What a cute little cover! Of course, if you wanted to have a non beeswax cover, you could stop here.
Now for the beeswax!
So, for my beeswax, I had this unfiltered stuff that I bought years ago for super cheap and had never gotten around to using. Honestly, I love the fact that it’s unfiltered! But, it needs to be grated up, which is a bit of a pain. So if you are buying beeswax specifically for this project and have the option, I would recommend getting some pellets like these. If you are grating it, a great tip I saw in a video is to get a thrifted grater so that you don’t ruin your main one (because beeswax is really hard to remove).
Step 10 – Grate your beeswax if needed.
I forgot to weigh my beeswax every single time I did this, but approximately 1 oz or less per beeswax cover would be plenty.
How to coat your elasticized cover with beeswax using your oven
I tried 3 different methods. First was to melt beeswax in a double boiler and brush on, then iron to even it out. Second was to sprinkle grated beeswax and then iron. With both those methods, my iron did end up with some beeswax on the sole plate, despite using parchment paper on top.
Third was the oven. It was definitely the easiest, fastest, and cleanest, so that’s the method I’m showing you.
Preheat your oven to 225 F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay your elasticized cover on it, wrong side up.
Sprinkle the grated beeswax or pellets onto the cover, making sure to get underneath of the edges and on top of them. You want a decent amount, but you can adjust it a bit, so don’t worry too much. In the picture below, I used a little too much. More details below for if you need to adjust the amount.
Place in the oven for about 10 minutes. Make sure everything is melted, then remove from the oven. Let it sit for a few seconds before picking it up. You don’t want to pick it up too soon and get beeswax all over your fingers or tongs, but you also don’t want the beeswax to start cooling and not be smooth when you remove it. Hold while it cools a little more, then set down until it fully cools.
Adjusting the amount of beeswax after baking
I like to do a crumple test to see if there is enough beeswax on the cover. Crumple it up in your hands and hold firmly for a moment. Then place it down. If it uncrumples a lot, it needs more beeswax.
Just sprinkle a little more beeswax on it and put it back in the oven for a few minutes.
The picture above is good! They are obviously coated enough to stick to themselves.
If it barely uncrumples, that’s great! Just check to see if there’s actually too much beeswax, though. If you used too much, it will obviously be very thick in places and have big cracks that flake off. If this is the case, you can place another cover (elasticized or flat) underneath and put it back in the oven for a few minutes.
Now try it on your baking dish. You will probably want to tighten your elastic. This is especially because the beeswax is quite stiff, so you need to compensate for that. I just leave the casing open, because I don’t want to sew through beeswax, and it’s not a problem at all!
Yay, all done! These are so handy, cute, and they even smell great!
FAQ’s about beeswax covers
Are beeswax covers airtight?
These are not 100% airtight. But for everything I’ve used them for (sourdough making, baked goods on a plate, leftovers in the fridge for a few days), it hasn’t been a problem.
How do I clean my beeswax covers?
To clean, simply run under lukewarm water, using a clean dishcloth to scrub if necessary, and hang to dry. I’ve used these to make my sourdough and I actually find that if the dough does touch the cover, it sticks less than with my PUL covers. I have yet to have my dough overproof and get all over them though, so I’ll update if (when) that happens, haha.
What can I use beeswax covers for?
You can use your elasticized beeswax covers for leftovers, sourdough making, and on plates of baked goods. You should NOT use a beeswax cover for raw meat, especially if it will be touching it.
Can I use linen to make beeswax covers or wraps?
Unfortunately I would say no. I love linen, but I found two things while experimenting with it. First is that it’s low thread count actually leaves a lot of tiny holes for air to get through. Second is that it just doesn’t like to stick to itself (or dishes). It really resisted staying crumpled, which is funny considering how much it loves to wrinkle!
And now you know how to make your very own elasticized beeswax covers!
Is this something you will try making? Let me know in the comments below if you do 🙂 And if you’re looking for more inspiration for your home, check out my other household sewing projects here!
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