one of the long time staples in my shop used to be crayon rolls.
these are perfect for gifts!
each of my girls have one and silas has been begging for one, so i made up this adorable one for him. these are great for throwing in your purse, for keeping the littles busy in the car, waiting rooms, restaurants… and when they’re done, they love that each crayon has its own little home
and they can roll it up themselves and secure it with the elastic.
so, are you ready for the tutorial? here you go!
supplies:
2 pieces of same fabric for outside and inside – 5″ x 16 1/2″
1 piece of coordinating fabric for pocket – 6″ x 16 1/2″
1 piece of flannel for lining – 5″ x 16 1/2″
1 coordinating hair elastic
1 button
needle and thread
1 box of 16 crayons (i get mine at walmart)
disappearing ink fabric marker
1. cut out all 4 pieces of fabric
2. fold pocket piece of fabric in half length-wise and iron flat.
i have found that it helps to actually PLUG IN the iron, and not the nearby vacuum cord.
crazy how that works!
3. lay out flannel piece.
its just a lining to give the roll a little more stability.
then lay one of the 5″ wide pieces on top of the flannel (wrong side down),
then pocket piece on top of that, lining up all bottom edges.
pin at the ends.
4. find the midpoint of the pocket at 8 1/4″.
with your fabric marker and a straight edge, mark the middle line.
5. then make a line every inch, until all 15 lines have been drawn.
see how the space after the last lines on each side is a little wider than 1 inch?
that’s to allow for the seam allowance.
6. now stitch down the pocket.
i start at the center line, 1/4″ below the top of the pocket, and back stitch (very important!),
then run your stitch all the way down.
work your way down the lines to the right, then to the left, until all lines are stitched down.
trim threads.
7. if you have a tag to add, do it now.
also stitch down the elastic on the far right side.
i take the seam part of the elastic (where its melted together) and pinch it.
i stitch it down just inside the edge, about a 147 times.
ok, not really but i really want to make sure the elastic holds when little hands are tugging on it.
8. now lay the outside piece on top of all that you have just attached together,
right sides together, and pin at each corner.
9. next stitch all pieces together with a 1/4″ inseam.
start at the short end without the elastic, leaving about a 2″ opening to turn right side out.
i marked my opening so you could see my placement.
clip the corners.
10. turn right side out and gently poke out corners. i like to use a chopstick for this.
11. spray your stitched down pocket lines with water before ironing crayon roll flat.
sometimes if you don’t spray the marker lines,
when you iron it it makes the ink permanent rather than disappearing.
12. press all the edges flat and tuck in the edges of the opening.
13. starting just below the elastic, stitch very close to the outer edge to hold all the pieces together.
14. organize your crayons (my *favorite* part!) and tuck into pockets.
15. roll up tight.
gently stretch the elastic to find where the button should be sewn down.
sew on the button securely.
16. you’re done!
find a cute little one to give this to and make their day!
i so hope you enjoy this little project!
thank you for reading through this very long tutorial!
LOVE that! Such a cute idea!
great step by step!
I am definitely tucking this idea away for birthday party gifts. Thx for sharing!
Great tutorial with all the action pictures! I'm going to have to try to make one of these for my nephew! Thanks for sharing.
Love this! Great for our upcoming long trip in the car!
Love it. Can't wait to make them for my grands!!
Oh my goodness! Love this idea, I am going to make one for my kids. So cute!
Great tutorial! I've been wanting to make one of these. Thanks for giving such detailed instructions and including photos. This is so helpful. Very cute fabric!
Very cute. And can I ask who makes the brown car fabric/where you got it? Thanks!
I'm guessing that car fabric is from Hawthorne! LOVE that site (and yours!) Thanks for introducing me to them…helps me feed my fabric habit…
Might have to have a go at this…..my little girl would probably like one for taking her colouring pencils to school.
You are awesome! Thanks for the tutorial!
Love it, so fun, Thanks!!
Great tutorial! Nice pictures, very clear and what a GREAT JOB! Everything nicely done! And bonus, I don't have to keep guessing how you did it! Thanks again! And GREAT tiny party by the way! Can't wait to see the photos! Secretly, I was looking for the post from the party today…..
love this…your tutorials are fantastic. thanks for sharing. i must try this one.
BTW, new to your blog!
How cool is this!!!? Genious! Love it! Excellent tutorial with great pictures.
Tammy
Love this..love your blog!
i have been looking for how to make one of these this is by far the best tutorial. Thanks!! my girls will LOVE this.
Thank you so much for the tutorial. You did a great job on the instructions and pictures. They seem easy to follow. I can't wait to make some for my 2 girls. I've been following your blog since April 2009. I LOVE IT!!!! I check it on a daily basis. You are adorable. I live in Salt Lake, UT, but I hope to plan a trip during one of your shows or boutique sometime.
can't wait to make one! thanks so much for posting this! I just discovered your blog and will definitely follow!
Thank you for the great tutorial! We had 3 birthday parties this weekend, and these were a big hit with the girls and their mommies! I made up extra's to have on hand and my daughter REALLY wants one of her own now! Thank you!
-V
Love this tutorial, thank you so much for sharing!! xo
I just finished making one…so fun! Every time I start sewing something, I end up making at least one mistake. This time, it was right off the bat – I misread the lines on my cutting mat and cut the fabric one inch too short! Oh, well. The crayon roll holds 15 crayons instead of 16.
Thanks for posting the tutorial! Love it!
Thank you SO much for this great Toot-toot! I am making pen sized versions for my girls' teachers..and they look really great :-) ♥
I have been wanting to try this for some time, and I just finished making my first crayon roll for my little boy. It is so cute! Thanks for this great tutorial!
I've always loved these ever since I saw them on Skip To My Lou! I wish I would have seen this for when my son was little.
Except I can't sew myself out of a paper bag, even with the tutorial.
Thanks so much for the tutorial, I saw it on sewmuchado.blogspot and have already made 4 of them. My boys LOVE them! I was wondering how you figured each space to be 1 inch apart? I wanted to make one to hold the pipsqueek markers and am trying to figure out how far apart to space them.
hey jeni!
i played around with the spacing and 1 inch fit the crayons well, but still allowed for them to be able to slip in and out easily. i would say get some scrap fabric and play around with a few different spacings and try them out!
I LOVE your tutorial! I’ve been looking for a crayon roll tutorial for Christmas presents and I haven’t found one that I’m excited about… until now! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much. I am making them for my little grandchidlren. This was a wonderful tutorial.
I love this tutorial! I am part of a non-profit organization that sews projects to donate to charity, Sewing Hope. For our next project we plan to do crayon rolls for orphans in Malawi, Africa. Your tutorial is so easy to follow, I am planning on posting a link on our website to your blog. Thank you so much!
If you would like to pass the word along about or growing non-profit organization, we would love it!
Thank you!!!
Thanks for sharing this. I sold a couple to some friends and they’re in love with them. I’m so excited to know how to make these. I added iron-on vinyl to the fabric behind the crayons and it looks extra fancy – crayon marks wipe off.
Thank you for this great tutorial! I am making tons of these for Christmas these year!
Love this tutorial! And by the way, I love love that pin cushion! (It’s funny the things I notice..)
Question about the elastic. I tried to do the coffee cozy with the hair elastic and my sewing machine wouldn’t go over the elastic. Advice on doing this project b/c I really want to make it.
Thanks so much! I just made this…very nice instructions….its the first thing I have ever sewn! ( I just got my first machine last week!) One down, two to go! Making one for each of my three kids….then I’ll start on some for some birthdays coming up! :) Thank you!
Brilliant tutorial, last time I made one of these it was super hard, this time really easy. Thanks!
I love your tutorial! I decided to make these rolls for my niece and nephew and then I posted pictures and a link to your tutorial on my blog. I hope you don’t mind. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for posting such CLEAR instructions! I just finished making this, and like one of the earlier posters came up an inch short by accident. I also used the hair grip to wrap around the roll, rather than using a button – faster and less of a choking hazard. Thinking about making in felt, so I don’t have to worry about raw edges – so just put the pocket on a double layer of felt and sew around the exterior (no right-side-together-and-turn-inside-out). Will also try making a template to increase speed and reduce errors! Thanks again!
Thank you for this tutorial. I am so excited! I just got my first sewing machine, and I think this will be my first real project on it. You made this SO easy to understand. I can’t wait to try it.
Loved this, and have also started a few. But, I’ve broken 2 needles…same thing another reader said, trying to sew on the elastic. Any suggestions? My husband said to sew that part by hand, ugh! But, may have to resort to that.
this is what I did: set my machine to zig-zag with a really wide stitch, then set the stitch length so that it was practically on button hole. What it did: sewed from side to side over and over again, and encased the end of the elastic band, so it wasn’t so much sewing through the elastic band as covering it. Still, it picked up enough of the band and the fabric covering so it won’t come out, but no broken needles.
Thanks so much for the great tutorial! Here is mine I made, http://smilingjessica.blogspot.com/2011/02/helper-crayon-roll.html
Nice tutorial: easy and straightforward.
Love it.When I was small a neighbor made a crayon apron for me. It was a similar design but it had apron sashes and hung around my waist. I loved it, wouldn’t be hard to make apron sashes on this pattern.
Hello Lindsey!
Loved this tutorial! I’ve made a few following your instructions. I’ve included pictures on my blog. I also linked your website. Hope that was ok!
Have a great day!
http://hijabimommy.blogspot.com/2011/04/sewing-saturdays-crayon-roll.html
thanks so much great instructions not too long and very easy to follow even if you
have never sewed a stitch. this will be a great item to use up quilt scraps and great little gifts for surprise visitor and even halloween treats for school mates very organice
thanks again looking forward to more cute ideas
I can’t tell you how much I love this!! I’ve made these a few times and they wonderful. I am linking to you on my post today, hope that is okay!! Thanks for such a great tutorial!!
Thanks for the tutorial. I love these they are so cute! I made my own you can see it here: http://misspixieworks.blogspot.com/2011/04/crayon-roll.html
Thank you for the tutorial! I have made crayon rolls in the past, but I just made two using your tutorial, and it was so much easier than the one I used previously. Love your blog and your shop. I never leave without being inspired in some way! God bless!
I just finished making a 8-crayon roll! It was super easy, and the 1 inch sleeves even fit the large triangular crayons, although next time I may add an extra 1/4 inch per crayon so they slide in a little easier. Thanks for the tutorial :-)
Thanks for the great instructions, super easy to follow. I made one today for my son and I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Thanks again.
Here is mine:
http://mylifeisthejackpot.blogspot.com/2011/07/very-close.html
I really love this idea. Whats better than keeping them all in one spot? My kids have problems loosing them when they are in little boxes or in a pencil box. This way they know how many there are and they can tell immediately when one is missing!
Just finished my first one of these. I am a sewing NOVICE (like I have to have my sewing machine manual out with me when I sew) and it actually turned out pretty cute. I probably should have given myself a little more in terms of seam allowance (one of my little pockets is smaller than the rest and it’s cause I needed a little more seam on that side the crayon is tight, but it still fits!). I will be making 11 more just like the one I made today in the next few days. They will be part of the party favors for my oldest son’s third birthday party. I am pretty sure everyone is going to love them. Thanks for the awesome tutorial, I will be linking back to you when I blog all about Punk’s Cars party and all of the fun things I found for it!
Just found this after a Google search for ‘how to crayon roll up’
Gonna make this for my baby girl! Thank you so much. HILARIOUS commentary within the step by step! (vacuum cord, 147 times to stitch the elastic, etc.)
Yours is definitely the best crayon roll tutorial I’ve seen! Thanks so much!
Such a great step-by-step tutorial. This is the first project I made on my new sewing machine after years away from sewing. Thanks very much!
I have made several of these since I’ve found this tutorial & everyone that sees them just loves them. I’m going to teach the ladies on my quilting board forum how to make these if it’s o.k. to share the pattern. I don’t have a blog & am not very computer savy so I don’t know how to post a picture for you to see what I made. Thanks for such a wonderful tutorial!!!
Nicki
I love this tutorial. I’ve seen a picture of one of these before and wanted to make one. I went out and bought the material today. Making one for my granddaughter. Thanks for posting this.
Love the tutorial, Am going to do one tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing, Marina from Germany
I used your pattern to make these as party favors for my son’s Cars themed birthday party. You can see the blog about the party favors I made here: http://azlabrat.blogspot.com/2011/08/party-part-two-favors-and-some-thank.html
i bookmarked this tutorial ages ego but just now got around to sewing it…
And i wanted to say thank you for the great tutorial!
i used ribbons instead since i have a young baby and i didn’t want him to chew off the button.
here’s a link to some pictures.
http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/net/viewentry.aspx?EntryId=2146504&r=1
Love, love, love your crayon roll!
Just wanted to tell you ……LOVE the name Silas! I have a Silas too!! He is twelve!
Mar
Peterborough, ON, Canada
PS…In my opinion, don’t ever apologize for a “long” tutorial!
People like ME NEED that direction!
:o)
I have 6 little ones that need fun Christmas presents. These will be perfect, thank you for sharing.
Love the tutorial! I would like to know how much bigger to make the pockets for the chunky toddler crayons. I want to make it for my 18 month son and my 4yo son but I have never made one before.
I just made one of these for a Christmas gift, thanks for the clear tutorial!
Thank you for this awesome tutorial! I just finished two crayon rolls for stocking stuffers for my little guys. I also adapted your instructions to sew manicure sets for my sister-in-laws. Thanks again!!
Great directions and great idea. I made these for my grandchildren but had to have one for myself. Plan on making many more for friends-they are so cute yet so practical! Thank you!!
beautiful tutorial! I had made one of these in the past for a child’s birthday party, but wanted to refresh my memory since I have another friend needing a couple! Thanks so much!
These are great! I love your tutorial. I just have one question. What type of foot are you using? When I get to the corners, my machine doesn’t want to go through all the layers and gets stuck. Any advice? Thank you!
I totally love this. I’ve been wanting to make my kids some of these for the longest time now. Your tutorial was so easy to follow! And my daughter just loves it!