How To Sew A Cutlery Roll | Free Printable Pattern

January 22, 2026

A cutlery roll is a must if you pack your lunch for school or work. It keeps your cutlery clean before you use it, ensures used cutlery doesn’t get the inside of your lunch bag dirty, and keeps everything neat and tidy.

I’ve designed this pattern to fit cutlery that is up to 8″ long (however, my butter knives are 8-1/4″ and they still fit). If you’re making this for personal use, or are selling them but including a cutlery set, and your cutlery set isn’t that long, you can simply reduce the height of the pattern pieces.

Sewing cutlery rolls to sell

These are a great item to sell if you target eco-conscious consumers. You can also add matching/coordinating lunch bags and snack bags to your product line and bundle them together as a set.

Here are the free patterns for additional reusable lunch items:

Depending on your target market, you may also branch into other types of products to work with your reusable lunch items. For example, if you’re targeting students, you may also sew and sell:

Backpacks
Pencil cases
Notebook covers
Etc.

Materials

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Fabric for the outside of the bag (medium-weight fabric; I used a dogwood denim)
Waterproof fabric for the lining (I used food-safe PUL) You can also use a quilting cotton for the lining.
Thread
1/2″ wide double-fold binding (or bias tape) (You can make your own following these instructions)
#5 Nylon zipper (teeth are 5mm wide when closed)

Tools

Sewing machine
Walking foot or Teflon foot (optional but it makes working with PUL/vinyl easier. Alternatively, you can add a piece of Scotch tape to the bottom of your sewing machine foot to help it glide along the fabric.
Fabric scissors or rotary cutter and mat
Seam roller (optional but ideal when working with vinyl since you can’t iron it)
Temporary fabric marker
Iron

How to sew a cutlery roll

Step 1

Print the free pattern and cut your fabric.

You can also make this project without the pattern. The pattern pieces you’ll need are as follows:

Cutlery flap: 8″ x 4-1/2″ (in lining fabric)
Cutlery pocket: 9″ x 5-1/4″ (in lining fabric)
Lining panel right: 9″ x 5-1/4″ (in lining fabric)
Lining panel left (zipper pocket): 9″ x 4″ (in lining fabric)
Outer panel: 9″ x 8-1/2″
Zipper tabs: 1-5/8″ x 1-1/4″ (x 2)

You’ll also need:

#5 nylon zipper cut to 8″ long
1/2″ wide double-fold binding or bias tape
- 42″ long for binding the edges
- 28″ long for the tie closure

Step 2

Sew the cutlery pocket by folding the pattern piece in half, lengthwise, with wrong sides together.

Use a seam roller to crease the folded edge, then topstitch along it. (You can use an iron if you’re using quilting cotton for the lining).

Step 3

Sew the cutlery flap by folding the pattern piece in half, lengthwise, with right sides together.

Sew down both sides, using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowance and clip the corners, then turn right side out and top stitch along the sides and folded edge.

Step 4

Baste the cutlery pocket to the right lining panel. We won’t sew the pocket dividers yet.

Step 5

Sew the tabs to the ends of the zipper using a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Sew the left panel and right panel to the zipper.

Step 6

To close of the right side of the zipper pocket, place the lining and outer panel wrong sides together. Then stitch a line just to the right of your zipper tape.

Step 7

Now we can sew the pocket dividers. Each pocket will be 1-1/4″ wide, starting from the middle seam you just stitched (the last pocket will be bigger, because we’re accounting for the binding, which will make it smaller).

Using a temporary fabric marker, mark a line 1-1/4″ away from the center line of stitching, then mark a second line 1-1/4″ away from that. Repeat along the bottom edge, so you have a guidline for your stitching.

Before you start sewing, fold the outer panel back, so you’re only sewing through the lining.

Step 8

To add the cutlery flap, mark where your binding will come to along the right edge (1/2″ in), then center your flap between that mark and your center line of stitching.