Craft Tutorial- Silverware Wrap, great for a picnic

This week my craft tutorial will be another quick and simple one.

I enjoy getting outdoors when I can and I go on several picnics when the weather is good. So, when I saw a quick easy way to create a silverware tote, or wrap as I call it now, I jumped on it. (I personally like to take silverware on picnics, instead of the plastic ware, because it just works better! Of course, you could put plastic ware in this wrap, if you just wanted to.)

I also made several of these for gifts and for our family reunion.

Silverware Wrap

A picnic necessity

   

Materials

1 Kitchen Towel
Thread matching the towel
25” piece of coordinating ribbon (The width is your decision. I use a ¾” wide ribbon.)
Straight pins
Sewing Machine

First, you lay the towel out, wrong side up, and fold one end up about 7 inches.

 Pin in place.  (My towel was not square and doesn’t match up exactly, but it is close enough.)

Next, you will add the ribbon tie. Measure 10” along the ribbon. At the 10” mark fold the ribbon in half.  On the right hand side of the towel, measure up from the fold 4 inches and slip the folded end of the ribbon in between the towel edges. Push it in about  ½” . Pin in place.

Now, you must decide how many pockets you want the silverware wrap to have. I chose five. Next, you will want to mark the area to show where the pockets will be and how large each will be.  There are some people who will make one pocket wider than the rest to accommodate a larger item they want to have stored there.  I decided to have each one about 3 ¼  inches wide, since the width of my towel is about 16” and I just want them all about the same size.

        

It is now time to sew.  You will sew  ¼” seam along the sides of the towel, from the bottom fold to the top edge of the 7” fold of material (or from top edge to bottom fold as I have done), making sure you take a couple of stitches past the top and then back stitch back down a few stitches to reinforce the edge.

On the side with the ribbon, you will want to stop once you have stitched over the ribbon and then backstitch back over the ribbon, before continuing to finish that edge.  This will reinforce the ribbon tie.

Then you will sew along each line that you drew to create the pockets, again making sure you go a couple of stitches past the top of this section of material and then back stitch back a few stitches to reinforce the top of each pocket.

It is finished!

 Just fill it with silverware or plastic ware and fold down the top. Then, starting from the edge that doesn’t have the ribbon, roll the wrap up. Slip the longer ribbon under and around the wrap and tie!

Drop it in your picnic basket and you’re ready to go.