Guest post: Crayon Roll Up

When I had my second child and neighbors, ward members and friends started bringing over gifts for the baby, my little 2 year old started to get a little jealous.  She still liked her new baby sister, but really did not understand why the baby was getting all the attention and she was not getting any.  Then one of my husband’s medical school buddies came over bearing gifts… for both girls.  She was so excited!  I was so impressed that someone (a very thoughtful single man, mind you) thought of this.  I had never thought of that. Of course my little girl would start to feel left out, she has been the center of attention her whole life and now all the sudden this baby (which she loved) has come in and taken over and no one is paying as much attention to her.  

Since that day, I have tried really hard to do something for that older child, just so they still feel loved. 

Lately, my ward has been popping out babies like crazy!  By the time I deliver in November there will have been 18 babies born this year!  18!!  And I live in a very small rural community.  I don’t know if I would come out and drink the water here, it seems a bit contagious!  🙂

My little 4 year old really likes to color, and he loves his crayon roll because it is little and it is his.  So I thought I would make up a few crayon rolls and get some dollar store coloring books to have on hand as I go deliver baby gifts.  These are a pretty easy gift to make.  It can be done start to finish in less than an hour. Sometimes I can get 2 done in an hour if I do them at the same time.

So here we go.

Supplies you will need:

2 pieces of the same fabric for inside and out   5″ x 16 1/2″

1 piece of coordinating fabric  6″ x 16 1/2″

1 piece of flannel  5″ x 16 1/2″

30″ of ribbon

Disappearing ink marker

box of 16 crayons

I found that I could get 3 coordinating fat quarters for pretty cheap and it makes 3 different  (but almost the same) crayon rolls. 

Let’s get started…

Fold the pocket piece (6″) in half and iron flat.  

Next lay out the flannel piece (this just gives the roll a little more stability), then layer with the front piece (5″) with the right side up.  Next line up the pocket you just ironed along the bottom with the fold at the top and the 2 open edges at the bottom.

Now you pin the sides so that nothing moves.  Take your disappearing ink marker.  

find the middle of the fabric (8 1/4″)  You are going to draw a line the length of the pocket.  

Now draw a line every inch until the end on each side.  I like to move my fabric so the the line I just drew in the middle is on a line on my cutting board and so it is easy to draw lines every inch.

I am sorry my lines are so light, I tried to make them as dark as I could, this fabric was just not perfect for that.

I hope you can get the gist of it with is picture.  🙂

There will be more than 1″ left on each end, but don’t worry, this is just giving you room for your seam when you sew it all together at the end.

Once your lines are all drawn it is time to sew.  

Start with the middle line again.  

Start sewing about 1/4″ down from the top of the pocket.  BACKSTITCH.  This part is very important, otherwise all of the little pockets will start coming un-done very soon.
I like to sew the whole right side and then move back to the center and sew the left side.

Now it is time to add the ribbon.  Fold the ribbon in half.  Pin the fold on the right edge of the fabric, about in the middle, but it does not need to be perfect.  

Now sew back and back about 100 times.  Just kidding, not quite a hundred, although it may seem like that.  

My daughter walked in the room as I was doing this step and said, “Mom, did you just keep missing?”  “No sweetheart, I meant to do that.”  “Oh, that’s weird.”  🙂

I sew back and forth 5 or 6 times.  Remember, little hands are going to be pulling, tugging and dragging by these ribbons.

Now take the last piece of fabric, your 5″ outside piece and place it face down.  So you want both right sides together.  Pin these together all the way around.  

You need to leave a 2″ opening, so that you can flip the roll right side out.  I like to mark my opening so I don’t forget, because I do forget.

Now sew all around (except the opening).

 Trim your corners so that they can make nice square corners.  

Now pull the crayon roll through the opening so it is flipped right side out.  I gently use an un-sharpened  pencil, little dowel, or chopsticks and push my corners out.

I forgot to take pictures of this part, but it should be ok.  

Remember that opening you just pulled everything through?  Now you will notice that it likes to fold its self inside, and this is good.  I spray the whole front side with water (this helps the disappearing ink not become permanent) then line up the opening so it is nice and flush with the rest.  Now iron the whole thing flat.

After you have ironed it you need to stitch around the whole thing, one more time.  This takes care of the opening, and gives the crayon roll a nice finished look..  I stitch about 1/8″ away from the outside edge.  

Now just add the crayons, roll up, and give to a child you loves to color!!!

These really are a great thing to take with you everywhere.  We have one in the car, in the church bag, and sometimes in my purse.  

Hope you have fun making these!  And don’t forget to check out our blog for other fun posts!  

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