Do you have one of those ‘good’ cutlery sets? You know the ones, they get pulled out for Christmas and then for the rest of the year, take up a huge amount of space in an awkwardly large box.
Well, I decided to store them in a roll, like chefs knives. They take up a lot less space and still stay nice and shiny. You can see below, that they use about 1/4 of the space of the box. To make this a quick job, I used tea towels, as they are already hemmed around the edges.
You could use fabric, but you would want to finish the edges first. This would also be a great project to make use of souvenir tea towels, if you have a pile of them laying about.
Cutlery Storage Roll
You’ll need:
Tea towels – For my 56 piece set, I used 3 jumbo tea towels (60 x 90 cm)
Piece of ribbon, tape or cord for the ties. I used 3 pieces of twill tape, all 1m long.
If you bought tea towels specifically for this job, then pre-wash them.
Lay out a tea towel and then lay out the cutlery along the middle. Make sure you leave a little wiggle room so that the pockets aren’t too tight. The bottom part of the tea towel gets folded up and sewn to make pockets for the cutlery and the top part folds over when rolling it up to stop the cutlery from getting scratched.
Fold up the bottom of the tea towel and pin in between each piece of cutlery. I used the lines on the tea towel as guides for placing the pins evenly and a mark on a post-it note to make sure I made them all the same width.
Remove the cutlery and sew channels at each place that you have a pin. Again, I used the lines on the tea towel to make sure I sewed straight.
Now, add the tie to your roll. Finish the ends on the twill tape, by folding over twice and sewing or with some fray check. To find the point to sew the tape onto the tea towel, place the cutlery in the pockets and fold over the top flap. Place a mark halfway down the edge on the pocket part of the tea towel, not the top flap. Fold the tape in half and sew onto the tea towel at the mark. I also labelled the ends of my ties so I know what is in each tea towel without having to unroll them.
These are great for steak knives, servingware, picnic or outdoor cutlery sets too.
Natalie says
Great idea!!! and the box is always so heavy!
Anonymous says
Thank you so much for this great idea.
roseandthistle says
Love this idea – I have a set of bronze cutlery I’m looking to store in a small space and this idea is perfect! Just one quick question I had – how did you label the twill tapes? They look great! Thanks for sharing the post.
thingsforboys says
I used rubber stamps and some Versacraft ink which can be set permanently onto fabric. You could also embroider the tape or use a laundry marker, or the printable transfer paper.
Roslyn@Sew Delicious says
Such a brilliant idea – I do have one of those big awkward boxes of cutlery! I will definitely be doing this – thanks Abby!
tonyaandevansmom says
Amazing I made one earlier this summer. It is so convenient when setting table for large gathering, just tale the whole roll to the table and set. Great minds do think alike. Friends have seen it and wand one for themselves.
Anonymous says
Great idea could also be made as a carrier, for knitting needles and crochet hooks.Loved that it has marking. Great for picnics also, would also be a great gift for weddings, cold be given as with silverware ncluded.
thingsforboys says
great ideas!
Anonymous says
You can also buy fabric that retards tarnishing if you have real silver or silver plated table ware.
thingsforboys says
that sounds amazing!
Faye says
I have the tarnish retard fabric to make these for my real silver, service for 12. I have had it for awhile, maybe seeing this will get me sewing.
abby says
I didn’t know that sort of fabric existed! Sounds great!
Anonymous says
great idea i will be doing this
Sandra says
Can’t wait to make. Ty
Geri says
I’d like to show you how mine turned out but I can’t figure out how to upload the pic. The project was a great success. Thank you for the great pin!
abby says
so glad you enjoyed the project! I’d love to see a pic. You can email me at abby@thingsforboys.com
Shambavi says
Thanks for the brilliant idea.My to do list priority 1. Wish had seen it earlier.
abby says
Happy sewing!