Jewellery Roll

Pauline thought that the outer fabric shown here (from Makower UK) was just too delightful to cut up. You might want to cut the inside and outside of your roll in different fabrics, make the pockets in a contrasting colour or just change the colour of the bindings. If you adjust the size it would be a lovely present for a new mum with pockets filled with cotton wool and baby paraphernalia.

Method

1. Cut two pieces of fabric for the outer and inner layers 18 x 6in (46 x 15cm). Sandwich the wadding between the two fabrics with the WS of the fabrics next to the wadding. Pin or tack through all three layers to keep in place. Put to one side until you have made the pockets.
2. For the ruffled edge, cut a 10 x 1 1⁄2in (26 x 4cm) strip of your chosen binding fabric. Fold and finger press the strip in half lengthways. Run a tacking thread using small stitches, approximately 1⁄8in (3mm) from the raw edges. Start with a knot but leave the thread without finishing off at the end.
3. Cut a piece of wadding and two pieces of pocket fabric 4 x 6 1⁄2in (10 x 17cm). Place the wadding on the table and put a rectangle of fabric on top, with the RS facing upward. Pin the knotted end of your ruffle to the corner of one long side of the rectangle with the raw edges together. Ease the fullness of the ruffle by pulling the thread until it matches the length of the rectangle. Pin in place.
4. Place the second rectangle of fabric on top with the RS of the fabric down. Ensure all raw edges are even and stitch along the top edge. Trim any excess wadding away from the edge of the seam and flip the fabric so that RS of the fabrics are outwards and pin to hold back. Stitch 1⁄4in (6mm) below the ruffled edge to ensure a firm edge.
5. For the corded binding cut a 6 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄2in (17 x 4cm) strip of binding and fold over the piping cord. Pin or tack close to the cord to hold in place. Cut wadding and fabric as above and lay the wadding and one piece of fabric as before. Place the piping onto this with the raw edges matching. Put the last piece of fabric on top and pin in place. Stitch through all the layers using a piping foot if you have one on your machine, flip fabric, pin and then stitch 1⁄4in (6mm) below the edge.
6. For the double or French binding, cut a 6 1⁄2 x 2in (17 x 5cm) strip of binding, fold and finger press lengthwise. Cut two pieces of pocket fabric and one piece of wadding 3 x 6 1⁄2in (8 x 17cm) and layer the wadding between. Lay the double-folded strip against one long edge of the fabric sandwich and pin in place with all four raw edges matching. Stitch 1⁄4in from the raw edge, ensuring that you go through all four layers of fabric and wadding. Trim away excess wadding and fold binding back to cover edges and slip stitch in place, anchoring the hand stitches to the line of machine stitching.
7. For Prairie Points cut six 1 1⁄2in (4cm) squares. Cut two pocket fabrics and one piece of wadding 3 x 6 1⁄2in (8 x 17cm). Fold each square in half diagonally and then fold again so that they are a quarter of their original size. Pin and press each piece to hold in shape. Lay evenly along the edge of one piece of the fabric matching the raw edges. You will need to overlap them slightly to get all six along the edge of your pocket, pin in place, and then either tack, pin or machine with small seam allowance to secure. Layer wadding, the fabric with the points face upward, and then the other piece of fabric face down and stitch securely through all the layers. Trim the wadding, flip fabric and stitch 1⁄4in (6mm) below edge as before.

Finishing

1. Evenly space out each of the pockets onto the large background fabric sandwich. Ensure that the tops of each pocket face in the same direction. Flip back each pocket (except for the one at the bottom end) and machine stitch raw edges securely to the outer piece. Fold the pockets back to their correct position and pin in place.
2. Trim away any excess fabric and wadding from the sides of the pockets. Shape the top two corners of the background piece so that they have a gentle curve – Pauline used the edge of her pin tin to get a nice shape – and just round off the sharp points of the bottom two corners.
3. Fold the ribbon in half and pin it to the top end of the roll, making sure that you tuck the ends well away from the edges where you will be sewing. Starting at the bottom end fold over the short end of the bias strip and pin the bias strip all round the work, matching the side of the bias strip to the edge of the roll. Machine stitch in place; ensure that you catch the edges of each of the pockets as you sew. Trim away excess wadding, and turning raw edge of binding in, slip stitch in place to cover machine stitch line.

First published in Popular Patchwork Volume 12 Number 9 - August 2004