Day 10 - Scrap Busting Pen Roll

I've been attempting to organise my study/craft room over the last couple of days, and in the process realised two things: firstly, I have way too much stuff, secondly, I have nowhere near enough storage. So in a bid to resolve these two issues I have been coming up with ways to use up my huge amount of scrap fabric and create some useful storage solutions. The first item on my list was to organise my art box (which is pretty much just a cardboard box full of pens and pencils tied together with hairbands, paints, chalks, paintbrushes tied together with hairbands etc. that I have accumulated over the years.

So here is my first stash buster; a pen roll (or pencil roll, depending on what you choose to put in it)

It was quite an easy project, I mostly made it up as I went along. Here's what you need, two pieces of fabric, one for the outside, one for the inside; a button and a hair band for the fastening; and of course your machine and sewing gubbins.

Firstly you need to roughly measure the length of the pens/pencils you want to put in it and then add your seam allowance on. As you can see from the picture above, I managed to mess that bit up and forgot to factor in a seam allowance. I actually quite like the fact that the pens stick out over the top though, it means you can grab a pen easily without having to unroll, but that's really personal preference.

Because I was using up scraps, I didn't have two pieces of fabric that were the same length and height, so used an off cut of the outer fabric on the inside as well.

Apologies for the awful picture!

So what I did was essentially make an envelope cushion (I think that's right anyway!) I laid the pieces right sides together, making sure that the blue flowered fabric was underneath the pink one (that way when you turn it inside out everything is the right way round) Then you just sew all the way round, leaving a gap so you can turn it the right way round. If you're really anal about ironing seams then you can do that before turning it round. If, like me you hate ironing seams because it means ironing, then don't bother, I quite like the homemade, rustic look! Once you've turned it the right way out, close up the gap and get ready to sew the tubes.

Measure where you need the first seam to be and sew. Then (and this is the bit I strongly recommend) put the pen in the tube and measure where the next seam needs to be. I know this seams a bit time consuming, and you may be saying "why don't I just measure out where all the lines need to be and just sew away" BUT if you want your pens to fit snugly, this is the best way to do it. It may feel really awkward and cumbersome to be sewing straight lines when half your roll has pens in it, but it really does make a difference - it will literally be made to measure for your pens and there is no way they will be falling out without a fight.

Once you've sewn all the seams and your pens are all snug and warm, just sew your hairband to one end and roll the whole thing up so you can work out where you need your button to go. My hairband was really stretched out because it was the same hairband I've been using to keep my pens together. Conveniently my button need to sit just behind where I'd sewn the hairband so it looks neat and tidy. 

I'm pretty chuffed with the end result, and it really didn't take me very long at all. Plus, it makes my art box look so much neater. Once I have completely organised my art box there may be a picture....

My pretty pen roll. It even has extra space on the end incase I need it