A Pencil Roll or Crochet Hook Tutorial ~ DIY Tutorial Ideas!

How to Sew a Roll Up Case for Crochet Hooks, Makeup Brushes or Coloring Pencils. Free Sewing Tutorial. Now available as a PDF!

Edit: Now available as a PDF: A Crochet Hook or Pencil Roll Tutorial

The lovely thing about crochet is that it’s so portable, but if I am going to carry it about I want something nice to keep my equipment in. You only need your hooks, a small pair of scissors for snipping yarn, and embroidery needles to work in the tails, but these are rattly and small things that are likely to get tangled up in the bottom of a bag, so yesterday I put together a roll that can carry precisely all of that:

And just in case you want one of your own, I’ve put together a tutorial (my very first!) on how to make one.

This project is perfect for any fat quarters you have, or any scraps from your scrap bag, and it will take less than an afternoon.

You will need:

    Bright or patterned fabric for the exterior and interior pockets (I used Amy Butler ‘Belle – spruce french wallpaper’)
    Coordinating fabric for the interior and pocket back
    Heavy sew in interfacing
    Interfacing for the pocket to suit your fabric weight (I used lightweight fusible)
    Ribbon for the tie
    Thread
    Your beverage of choice…

    Create the pattern:

    There are three rectangular pieces for this pattern:

    10″x11″ – cut one from exterior fabric, one from co-ordinating fabric and one from the heavy sew in interfacing
    5.5″ x11″ – cut one from exterior fabric, one from co-ordinating fabric and one from the other interfacing
    3″x3.5″ – cut two from the exterior fabric

Press the fabric.

Fuse the lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of the exterior fabric pocket panel.
Make the needle pocket:

Place the smallest pieces right sides together and sew three sides with a ½” seam, leaving the side that will match up to the right hand edge of your main pocket completely open.

Turn right side out, and press flat.

Top stitch along the top edge.
Attach the needle pocket to the main pocket, and create the needle casings:

Match the raw edges of the main pocket and needle pocket. You can place the needle pocket wherever you like, but leave at least ¾” clear at the bottom edge.

Sew the needle pocket to the main panel along the sides and bottom, keeping the stitch close to each edge.

From the right edge measure in 1¼” and sew a vertical line of stitches between the top and bottom lines of stitching. Repeat this to divide the rest of the needle pocket evenly – I used gaps of ½”.
Make the main pocket:

Pin the pocket panels right sides together and sew a ½” seam along the top edge. Sew basting stitches along the bottom edge with a ¼” seam. This is to stop it flapping about.

Turn right side out and press.

Top stitch along the top edge.
Attach the pocket to the backing panel and make the hook casings:

Put the layers together, right side up, in this order: heavy sew in, coordinating fabric main panel, main pocket and pin together, matching raw edges along the bottom.

Begin by measuring approximately 3″ from the right hand edge. This should line up with the stitching on the left edge of the needle pocket, but you might have to adjust for neatness. (I did.) Sew a vertical line to the bottom of the pocket, beginning at the topstitching, to create the scissor pocket.

For each hook casing measure ¾” right to left from the last line of stitching, and sew vertically as before. You should do about 9 of these.
Attach the ribbon:

Cut a long length of ribbon – mine was 36″ – because you can always make it shorter if you need to, and fold over 10″ from one end.

Baste the folded ribbon to the left hand edge of the backing panel, just above the pocket panel, with the short length on top.
Putting it together:

Pin the two main panels right sides together, making sure to tuck the ribbon well inside. Sew a ½” seam all the way around, leaving a 3″ opening on the right hand side, just above the pocket panel.

Trim the corners to reduce bulk.

Turn right side out and admire handiwork, using your favourite tool for poking the corners out – mine is a chopstick.

Press flat, paying attention to the opening to make sure it’s straight.

Close up the gap by top stitching all the way round.