Crafting or Needle Roll Tutorial

Recently, when my mother was visiting, she expressed an interest in a ‘roll’ to keep some of her card making and crafting equipment in.  So on a visit to Quilters Haven I asked her to pick out some fabric and I would make her one.

Between us we picked out two fabrics, one for the outside and a matching plainer fabric for the inside.  The idea then formed to write down how I made the roll as a tutorial which I hope will be of interest.  This is also the first time I’ve tried to explain one of my sewing projects so I hope it makes sense.

Firstly you need to decide upon the overall size which you want your roll to be.  I went for 10 inches high by 21 1/2 wide.  This allowed me to make the whole thing out of two fat quarters (which I asked to be cut straight across the roll).

To make things easier I’ll call the outer fabric A and the lining fabric B.

Cut two large pieces 1 of A and 1 of B.  10 1/2 inches tall by 22 inches wide.  I’m calling these pieces 1A and 1B.

Next two smaller pieces, again one out of each fabric.  One each 22 inches wide by 5 1/2 tall (called 2A and 2B).  Then the final two pieces 22 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches tall (3A, 3B).

You should now have 6 pieces of fabric in 3 pairs.

Next it’s time to make the pockets.  With the right sides together sew 2A and 2B together along one of the long sides.  Do the same for 3A and 3B.  These can then be turned the right way round and pressed along the seam.

Place these on top of the right side of 1B  (that’s the big piece of the lining fabric).  So at the bottom you have 1B, then the combined 2A/2B and finally 3A/3B on top with all the raw edges at the bottom.  I varied which one was visible so that once the flap (more of that later) you would have two stripes of fabric A at the top and bottom.  I’d spend a bit of time at this point checking out the exact positioning of the pockets.  I decided on a range of different sizes to give some flexibility on what goes into the pockets.  Once you’re happy then sew all 5 layers of fabric together in vertical lines to form the pockets.

Once this bit is done it’s time to put the outer fabric on.  If you do that before this you will have the sewing for the pockets visible on the outside, hence leaving it till now.  Place the wrong side of 1A and 1B together and sew round the edges and trim so that you have a nice neat edge.  I used a 1/4 in seam allowance.

Next it’s time to put the edging round.  I picked a black satin bias binding and matching black satin ribbon.  There are different ways to do binding and you can obviously chose the way you prefer.  I chose to sew round the outside with my machine (adding the ribbon underneath to allow the rolled up roll to be tied shut with a nice bow), then hand stitched the inside.

A few other thoughts……

It’s worth going over the stitching in a few places such as the tops of the pockets and where you attach the ribbon for added strength.

I also sewed a line of stitches 3 inches from the top which helped to form the flap.  This flap stops things from sliding out when you’re carrying your roll.

Then take a few piccys and hope the intended recipient likes it.