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Saturday 12 March 2022

Quasi-Tutorial: Multi Compartment Round Organizer Tray

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
A versatile item...
Today's project can easily be pulled off in under an hour, with the bonus part being that it looks like it should take much longer.

Mine did, but not for reasons of difficulty. While dragging my bolt of Decor Bond interfacing off the kitchen counter, I inadvertently caught my magnetic pin jar in the process and sent it flying through the air.

The pins scattered across the floor, with several of them winding up under the range/stove. Of course, one has to remove the drawer at the bottom of that appliance to access the floor below and once I did that, I figured I should do some cleaning down there too. What followed next was at least a ten minute struggle to put the drawer back on its rails, before I finally gave up and called for some assistance from hubby.

When all was said and done — a good half hour later, after repairing my pin jar (the magnet had come loose) — I decided to set the project aside for the day.




My tale of clumsiness aside, this multi compartment round organizer is easy to make and yes, it shouldn't take you any longer than an hour. You can start with a circle of any size, although know that going with anything less than 9" (23cm) across may result in compartments that are a bit on the small side.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
This is how it's currently being used on my sewing table...

Most of the versions that I've seen use a 10" to 11" (26 to 28cm) circle, which may or may not include a seam allowance. Don't worry, the vagueness just means there aren't any hard and fast rules, meaning it's almost impossible to go wrong.

I must preface by offering my usual disclaimer: this is not my creation. I've seen several versions of this on YouTube, and more than likely, none of those crafters were the originators of the design either.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
A repurposing project! These are my old chair pad covers...

You'll need four pieces of fabric, some mid-weight (like Decor Bond) interfacing, some chalk or fading marker and a ruler for this project. (A large quilting ruler is helpful; otherwise a measuring tape will do.)

Sew Two Circles


Find a large plate or fry pan cover to trace around. (I used a 10.5" Corningware quiche pan.) Fold your interfacing in half — because you'll need two pieces — and pin and then trace a circle onto it.

Cut out the circles of interfacing and pin one of them to a piece of fabric. Cut around the fabric with your preferred seam allowance and then use the resulting fabric circle as a template to cut three more fabric circles.

Fuse the interfacing onto the back of two of the fabric pieces.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Two sets of two fabric circles pinned right sides together with interfacing on one half of each...

Pair up one interfaced fabric circle right sides together with a non-interfaced fabric circle and pin. Do the same with the other pieces. Using the edge of the interfacing as a guide, sew all the way around. Yes, close it up entirely.

Until just two days ago, all of the tutorials that I'd seen had instructions to leave a turning gap along the side. This week revealed that I'm not the only clever one to decide that it's not necessary.

Once sewn, snip into the seam allowance at regular intervals to help ease the curvature.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Snip into the curved edge all the way around and then cut a small hole in the middle...

And now here's why it's not necessary to leave a turning gap along this (typically fiddly) curved edge... you can cut a hole in the middle instead.

To turn these right side out, pull the two layers apart and cut a small hole in the middle of the interfaced layer. Cut only as large an opening as you need to reach in and turn it right side out.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
You don't need a large opening to turn it right side out...

Once turned, run a folding tool or chopstick along the entire inside edge, to push the fabric out evenly. Press well and topstitch around the edge.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Two fabric circles finished...

Although not required, I ran some lazy quilting across the entire surface to firm up the fabric. If you choose to do this, work from the side with the hole — so that the raw edges don't get caught up against the feed dogs — and start and stop your quilting in the middle.

For the purposes of the remainder of this tutorial, let's call the side with the hole the WRONG side and the other side the RIGHT side.


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Create the Compartments


Take one of the sewn circles and fold it in half and then into quarters — fold with the WRONG side on the inside — to find the center point. Mark the center point with chalk or whatever fading marker you use and unfold the quarter fold.

This next part can be done in a number of ways, including just eyeballing it if you're good at that. Other methods include using a paper template — i.e., of a circle folded into equal sections — as a guide.

With the piece still folded in half, mark the two end points. Unfold and draw a 2" (5cm)* long line from each end point towards the middle. (Note: these lines should be drawn on the RIGHT side of the circle.)

Next, if you have a quilting ruler like this one, place the 30 degree marker over the center point of your circle, lined up horizontally with the lines that you just drew to the left and right.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Using a quilting ruler to mark the 30 degree angles...

You'll have to move everything to the edge of your table to reach, but what you want to do is stick a pin at the end of the two lines that run from the 30 degree marker. Once you have those points pinned, fold the circle back in half again and mark the corresponding spots on the top half of the circle.

Place your ruler across the entire circle to draw four more 2" lines* from each of the 30 degree points.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Draw 2" (5cm) lines to mark the six divisions...

Like I said, there are other ways of measuring these divisions. If you don't have a quilting ruler, use a measuring tape to determine the half circle distance of your fabric piece and divide it by three to get the required distance between the lines.

Stack this circle on top of the other, ensuring that the WRONG sides are facing one another (so the holes that you cut will be hidden in the finished item).

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Lines sewn...

Clip or pin as required and then sew along those 2" (5cm) lines* that you drew. (I chose to start from the inside and sewed to the edge, but how you do it is totally up to you.)

At this point, if the tray is intended for storage of really small things — like tiny beads, for instance — you may want to sew a circle around the middle to close off this area. If you do this, sew about 1" (2.5cm) away from the ends of the lines that you just stitched.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Almost done...

Separate the openings along the edge and apply clips as shown to help you determine how much you need to (hand) sew to create the compartments that you want.

I ended up sewing sections about 1.25" (about 3cm)* long.

* The dimensions and measurements for this project are basically up to you. Most tutorials go with a 2" (5 cm) length for the machine sewn lines, but if your original circle is larger than 10" (26cm), you could make that line up to 3" (7.5cm) long. Generally, increasing this length will decrease the overall size of the center compartment. Similarly, increasing the length of the hand sewn area decreases the size of the opening into the center compartment.


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The result is a surprisingly sturdy and versatile container with multiple compartments that can be used to organize things from crafting supplies to snacks to hardware to makeup. Since I often take my sewing prep down to the kitchen — as evidenced by the incident that preceded this very project — I can certainly use something like this to organize some supplies.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
Finished!

As I've demonstrated, this is a perfect project for upcycling found fabrics. (I saw a really nice one made out of denim.)

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
View of the bottom...

It's been a while since I took the stuffing out of some chair pads to make my shinto stool covers, but with the origami gift box and now this tray, the old covers have now been repurposed into new and useful things.

By the way, nothing says that each piece of fabric has to be the same, so I wouldn't hesitate to make this out of four different fabrics if that's what's available.

Multi-Compartment Round Organizer Tray by eSheep Designs
A seemingly endless supply of free skincare samples...

I believe my instructions for this are fairly clear, but if you need to see this being done, go check out the numerous videos on YouTube for this and other variations, such as with eight compartments or an additional layer of compartments (i.e, made out of three fabric circles). Try searching for "multi compartment round fabric organizer".

'Til next...

6 comments:

  1. FYI: I learned years ago when sewing around a circle entirely (or other shape), instead of pulling up the fabric in the center and cutting a hole after you sew around the circle, if you fuse a small piece of fusible web in the center of the circle on one piece and use a rotary cutter to make a slit into the fusible web before you sew around the circle, it makes it easier to just turn the circle instead of fiddling with trying to cut a hole after sewing. Then once it's turned right side out, you can smooth out the cut slit with your hand and press and the fusible web to close the hole. It makes it much easier and neater and more stable too. Your organizer reminds me of one of those dinner roll holders too.

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  2. Hi Rochelle, your instructions were perfect!!! That’s what I love about your blog! I went to bed thinking I should start my garden clean-up, but was surprised to see everything covered in a few inches of snow- perfect for spending the day sewing- thanks for the inspiration! Marie

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Marie. Sewing over gardening would be my preference too, and not just because we still have about a foot of snow on top of our yard. This project is a quick win, though, so your gardening plans don't have to be sidelined for long.

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  3. Great tutorial, thanks!!

    ReplyDelete

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