Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Pencil Roll Tutorial


You will need: 1 large button, 1 thin no damage elastic (ponytail holder), 2 pieces of cotton fabric 18" x 12", and a piece of flannel (or interfacing) 13.5" x 12".
Measure 9" up the side to place elastic. You can put a pin through all the layers of fabric in the space between the elastic (the "hole"). If you click on the next picture, you might be able to see the elastic sticking out of the side. When you sew around the outside with 1/2 in seam allowance, you will catch the elastic. You might need to hold it as you feed it through the machine. If you'd like, you can backstitch it for added strength, though I don't know that it's necessary as you stitch it once more when you topstitch.
Pin right side of outside fabric to right side of inside fabric, then the flannel on top of the outside fabric.
Measure in 1.25" and down 5", cut from point to point. Then stitch around the with 1/2 inch seam allowance, pivoting at corners and leaving a 3-4 inch opening to turn.

Trim all 6 corners.
Turn. Making sure to pull out the corners to make nice points. Press. Topstitch close to the edge around the whole thing sewing over your beginning stitches 1/2-1" (this is called trace stitching and is prettier than backstitching.)
Fold down angled edge 5 inches. Press and topstitch close to edge (1/8 in) to define the flap.

Fold bottom up 4 inches. Press. Pin matching edges. Topstitch (over your previous topstitching) the sides to create a pocket. Mark the middle. Then mark every 7/8" either way, to divid into 12 pockets. Stitch the marked lines, making sure to backstitch at each end.



Place the pencils in the roll and roll it up to mark the button placement, and sew on the button.
Feel free to ask any questions, and I will do my best to answer them.

9 comments:

Blessed Mama said...

Wow! Great tutorial! I have made lots of versions of these pencil and crayon rolls but this is by far the easiest. I am looking forward to getting started to help Tracy's cause. :)

Robyn said...

If I use denim or canvas can I omit the extra flannel or interfacing?

Katherine said...

Yes, if you use denim or canvas you can omit the flannel/interfacing. That would work great and be beautiful! I would recommend that you use the heavier fabric on the outside, and use something more lightweight as the inside fabric. It would be very bulky and hard to work with if you only used demin/canvas.

Sally Jackson said...

Great tutorial! So how do you keep the elastic in place and how do you keep it in place permanently?

Katherine said...

You can put a pin through all the layers of fabric in the space the elastic makes (the "hole"). If you click on the 3rd picture, you might be able to see the elastic sticking out of the side. When you sew around the outside with 1/2 in seam allowance, you will catch the elastic. If you'd like, you can backstitch it for added strength, though I don't know that it's necessary as you stitch it once more when you topstitch. If it's still unclear, let me know.

pharmdad said...

This is great! I have made 6 so far very easily thanks to your tutorial. I am excited to make many, many, many more.

Dana said...

Yea! I am so happy to have found your tutorial! I've been wanting a roll that has a flap to hold the pencils in! This is great! Thank you!

Jenie said...

This is a fantastic tutorial. Thank-you! I hope you don't mind that I linked this to my post.

Melissa said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I made it for 16 colored pencils, and somehow the top was too short, but it's for a 4 year old, and I don't think she'll care. :)