Pencil Roll Up (or paint brushes, markers, crayons, makeup brushes, pens....)

     Lately I have really gotten into drawing with colored pencils and painting with watercolor and my supplies are all over the place.  I desperately needed a way to store my supplies.  This project has been on my to do list for months and I have finally found the time to make one.  The great thing about this project is that it is easily adjusted for whatever size items you want to put in it.  I am using mine for paint brushes, so I measured my tallest brush and added 1.5" to that.  I'm sure I will need another 1 or 4 to store all my colored pencil collection.
     For this project, you will need quilter's cotton, medium weight fusible interfacing, thread, pins or clips, a ruler, scissors and elastic.  I used a piece of FOE (fold over elastic) but any elastic will work.  Again, I measured my tallest brush and added 1.5" to that for a height of 10".  You can adjust yours to the height of your intended items.  For the width, I wanted it to hold 48 pencils, so I spaced the pockets 1.5" apart to hold 3 pencils in each pocket, so I knew I needed 16 pockets plus 1" on each end.  Again, you can adjust this for the number of items you want to store.  For a child's crayon roll up, I might only want it to hold 24 crayons, so I would want to also adjust the width.  Of course, you will also need to adjust the pockets and the point cover, but this tutorial isn't about all of the different sizes you can make.  Maybe one day I'll create a pattern tutorial for many sizes, but for now, this is what you will need to cut for this roll up.
  • 1 main fabric 26" by 10"
  • 1 contrast fabric 26" by 10"
  • 1 fusible interfacing 26" by 10"
  • 1 main fabric for pockets 26" by 8"
  • 1 contrast fabric for point cover flap 26" by 7"
  • 5.5" elastic
     Cut out all pieces.  Iron interfacing onto the wrong side of the contrast fabric, and iron the pocket and the point cover in half along the length.
     With the interfacing side of the contrast fabric down, place the folded pocket piece along the bottom edge with the fold facing up.  Line up the raw edges along the bottom and sides and pin or clip in place.
     Starting 1" from edge, mark a line every 1.5".  The last mark will be 1" from the other edge. You will end up with 18 marks including the 2 marks that are 1" from each edge.  With a ruler and a pencil or washable pen, draw a line straight up at each mark.  These will be the sewing lines to form the pockets.
     Sew a straight stitch on each line to form your pockets.  Next, hem each short end of the point cover flap by folding over 1/2", then again 1/2".  Straight stitch a hem.  
     Fold the point cover in half and place it at the top edge of the contrast piece.  Place it 1" from the side edge and raw edges even with the top edge, as shown.  You do not want the point cover flap to be sewn into the side seams or you won't be able to lift it out of the way.  Pin or clip the flap in place.
     Place your elastic in place about 1/4"-1/2" from the point cover.  Now place the main fabric piece right side down on top of the contrast section with the pockets and elastic and flap.  Pin or clip all the way around making sure to leave a 2.5"-3" opening between the pocket and top on the opposite side from the elastic.  I marked my opening with 2 red clips for the start and stop of my opening.
     Starting from one point of the opening, sew 3/8" seam allowance all the way around, pivoting at each corner, and stopping at the other point of the opening.  Make sure to trim the seam allowance of each corner to make the points look nicer when you turn it inside out.
     Reach into the opening and grab the elastic on the other side.  Pull the elastic through the opening until the whole thing is right side out.  Use a pencil or other blunt pointed (not sharp) object to push the corners out.  At this point, the point cover flap will stick straight up.  You will need to iron it down.
     Starting at the top of the pocket, top stitch 1/4" from the edge all the way around the top and down to the top of the pocket on the other side.  Make sure you close the opening in your top stitching.  You can stitch all the way around if you like, but I wanted to be able to use that little pocket on each edge to place a pen and a pencil in for easy access while I paint.  If you stitch all the way around, it will still hold 48 pencils. 
     Now fill it with your art supply of choice, roll it up and it's ready to travel with you wherever you choose to go.  Or sit in the cupboard waiting for you to use it in your next art project.  I hope you will make some for last minute gifts or just for yourself.  If you do, please share them with us in our Facebook group.