pick up sticks – a DPN needle and crochet hook organizer tutorial

I was talking with my cousin the other day about what we knitters (and crocheter’s) need that is not readily available. I puzzled and thought and sketched, and in the end came back to a simple needle/hook organizer.

If you are anything like me, your needles are sitting in a rubbermaid bin, twisted and jumbled together. If I’m looking for a certain size, I usually have to dump everything out, sort them out and start measuring. It’s such a headache. And I never know what I have at a glance.

Which brings me to my post today. Some of you have asked for a tutorial on how to make this.
I like that you can dress it up, or keep it simple.

To make a basic Pick Up Sticks organizer, you will need:

NOTE: all seam allowances are 1/4″ unless otherwise noted.

If you wish to, you can dress up this pattern and include a pieced or even quilted exterior main panel. I would recommend making it larger than necessary and then cutting it down to size.
Be aware of directional fabrics when cutting fabrics, keeping in mind the overall shape of this project.

These are the parts used in my example for this tutorial (a DPN roll up).

Construction:

Interface both the exterior main panel and the interior main panel (this is the one that will have pockets attached to it).

Stitch the exterior main panel and the exterior back panel together along one long side, right sides together. Press towards the back panel.

Stitch the two pocket panels together along the long side right sides together. Open up and turn right side out and press the seam line. Top stitch with a long stitch (about 3.0 – 3.2mm) 1/8″ away from the sewn edge.
Repeat with the second panel if you are making the DPN organizer.

Make the ties by folding each long piece of fabric in half and stitching down the side. Make sure you back stitch on either end.
This probably is the trickiest bit of all, so if you prefer you can use ribbon.
Take a small safety pin and attach it to the seam allowance of one sewn strip. Gently slip the safety pin into the tube. Slowly slide it down into the tube and ease the fabric at the other end as it bunches. You are turning it inside out.

 When you are finished, press each strip and put aside for later.

Assemble the inner part of the roll up by taking the main interior piece (interfaced) and the prepared pocket panel(s). Line it (or them) up along the bottom of the main piece. Stitch along the bottom through the two or three layers 1/8 of an inch away from the bottom to anchor them.

Next, either fold over and mark, or measure the halfway point along the length of the panels. Mark with a fabric pen with water-soluble ink. This will be your first stitch line.

Stitch, with a long stitch length (3.0 mm – 3.2 mm) from the bottom of the panels to the edge of the top panel. Backstitch at the beginning and end.

From this line, take your pen and mark your next sewing lines working from the center line outwards. For a DPN roll-up, I tend to begin with the larger sizes, 1.5″ on either side once or twice, then 1.25″ then down to an inch. Bear in mind that the larger your DPN needle sizes are, you will need more room to accommodate them. The same applies when needle sets have 5 instead of four parts.

For the crochet roll up, I used a solid 5/8″ division for all of the spaces, working from the center out.

Feel free to customize depending on your needs.

I take my iron or a water spray bottle and give the line markings a quick wet down to dissolve the ink. Give it a good press when you are finished.

My line will be a little different than yours as I cut this out late at night and my measurements for this particular one are .5″ off. Disregard this. 🙂

Give everything a good press and carefully press in the seam allowance of the opening. Feel free to pin that spot if you like to keep things lined up.

Using a longer stitch, as before, stitch 1/8″ away from the edges all the way around the roll-up taking care not to catch the ties in the way.

Fold the pouch in half lengthwise, taking care not to bunch fabrics, and press. Again. This last step will help keep everything where it needs to be. With a longer stitch, stitch 1/8″ away from the fold line stopping and starting at the stitch lines already there. Backstitch at the beginning and end.

Lastly, finish off the ends of your ties. You can sew a tiny zig zag at the bottom of the ties or even some simple straight stitching. I like to tie a knot near the end of each tie. If you think of any more creative ways to embellish your ties, I’d love to see them.

Load up your new Pick-Up Sticks Organizer and enjoy!

If you have any feedback or comments, I’d love to hear them. And if you happen to be on instagram and would like to share, tag your creations with #pickupsticksorganizer. Of course, I’d love it if you tagged me so I could say hi as well. 

Have a great weekend friends!

Until next time,

xo ~ Jade