Tutorial:Travel Roll-Up with Removable Pouches

     
I have a great makeup bag designed for travel. It has several pouches (attached with hook and loop tape) that can be removed and replaced easily. I decided that I needed a similar bag for sewing and quilting notions. I could fill the pouches with thread, scissors, rotary cutter, fat quarters, embroidery floss, etc. I could then roll it up, place it securely in my tote bag, and take it along to workshops and retreats. Everything would be easily accessible and in one place. I could also use it on trips, filling it with socks, underwear, jewelry, or how about toothpaste, toothbrush, makeup (if you don't already have one of those makeup bags) and other toiletries. 
Make one for a child and fill it with crayons, pencils, a small notebook, stencils, snacks, etc. You can use one pouch, two, three, four, or even more.
You'll need the following materials:
1.cloth for the front and back of the Roll-Up 
2.batting 
3.Binder pouches (these are made for pencils and crayons and have grommets to allow them to be put in a notebook binder. The ones I found were made by Elmer's and cost me 97 cents each.
4.Hook and loop tape - You will need both the adhesive type and the sew in type. You will use the adhesive type on the pouches and the sew in type on the cloth
5.ribbon, about 1 yard
6.binding for top of roll-up
Note: I didn't give amounts because this can be made any size and the width depends on the width of the binder pouches you get. 

1. Lay the pouches out about 1 1/2" to 2" apart and determine the length and width you want. You can use any number of binder pouches. 

2. Cut front, back and batting  this length and width and layer with front and back right sides together and batting on the back (Not sandwiched between!)

3. Sew 1/4" around the edge of three sides, leaving one end open. Turn it right side out. This will leave the batting inside.  Machine quilt the roll-up at this point. (I did simple quilting about 1" apart by following the lines of my fabric.)

4. Trim the open end  after quilting to make it straight.

 

5. Put the "bristle" side (or hook side) of the adhesive hook and loop tape on the pouches and the soft side of the sew on tape on the cloth roll-up. (I tried the adhesive type on the cloth and it didn't work! I also tried sewing it and it ruined a needle. SO.....I recommend using the two types. Yes, you are wasting half of each, but maybe you could combine them for something else?) I also took this picture using the adhesive type on the cloth. When that didn't work, I switched to a sew on type that was 2" wide because that is what I had. I put two rows of adhesive tape at the tops only of each pouch to match up to this wider tape.

Match up the tape on the pouch and the roll-up so that they meet. Sew the soft side (the loop side) of the hook and loop tape to the cloth roll-up, loop side up of course. NOTE: Try to place the tape in the same place on each pouch so that any pouch will fit on any space.

6. Fold the ribbon in half and sew to the open end of the roll-up. (I have sewn across the open end of the roll-up  1/4" to stabilize it, but that is not really necessary because you will be sewing a binding on.

7. Cut a piece of binding 1" longer than the end you will sew it to. Turn the edges of the binding in 1/2" so that you do not have raw edges. Fold the binding in half, place the raw edges of the binding against the raw edges of the roll up and sew using a 1/4" seam. (Just as you would sew on a quilt binding.)

8. Turn the folded edge of the binding over the raw edge and  sew down by hand. You  will catch the sewn end of the ribbon in the binding. 

9. Place your pouches on the roll up. If you lined up your hook and loop tape correctly, they should all stick in place just right! I bought some binder rings that can be hooked through the grommet holes and used to hang scissors or anything else that has a hole it can go through. I didn't find that I needed it. Keep that in mind, though. It might be that you could use it. The holes might also be handy for keeping embroidery floss separate for a project.

10.Roll it up (you are actually almost folding it over and over. Pull the ribbon around in opposite directions and tie to close.

 That's it. It's a very simple idea. Everything is contained in a neat little packet. You can place it in a tote or a suitcase. You can tuck your project in among the pouches and roll it up with them.