Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Crayon Roll Tutorial

I can hear my three oldest daughters laughing upstairs. Their laughter is heard above the humming of three sewing machines. They are gathered around our dining room table sewing crayon rolls to sell in my mother's new children's bookstore, The Purple Cow Bookstore, that will be opening in a couple of weeks in Tooele, UT. I'm so glad they are able to have a good time talking, laughing, sewing. It reminds me of the old-time quilting bees.

Crayon rolls are so easy to make! Here's my own pattern that I developed and now use. Feel free to make them, give them as gifts, sell them, whatever!


Crayon Roll Instructions (holds 16 normal sized crayons)

Materials Needed:
3 - 13 x 5 inch pieces of coordinating fabric (one for the back, one for the front, one for the pocket)
1 - 13 x 5 inch piece of fusible interfacing
1 - 24 inch piece of coordinating ribbon (I forgot to put this in the photo)

Step #1: Iron the interfacing to the back of the front piece. This is the piece that the pockets will be sewn to. Fold and iron the pocket piece in half wrong sides together. (see photo below)
Step #2: Place the pocket piece on the right side of the front piece matching the bottom and side edges having the fold of the pocket piece right in the middle of the front piece. Mark the sewing lines by measuring in 1 1/4 inch from the left edge then every 3/4 inch until you have 15 parallel lines. The last line should also be 1 1/4 inch away from the edge. (see photo below)

Step #3: Sew on these lines making sure to backstitch at the top and bottom of each. Fold the ribbon in half. Sew the folded edge of ribbon to the right side of the crayon roll. (see photo below)

Step #4: Place the back piece onto the front piece right sides together. Sew around the edges using a 1/4 inch seam allowance making sure to leave an opening somewhere to turn it right side out. I leave my opening on the other short end that doesn't have the ribbon sewn to it. Clip the corners. (see photo below) Turn right side out and press.

Step #5: Top stitch all the way around 1/8 inch from the edge making sure to close the opening.

Step #6: Fill with crayons and you are done!

It's hard, at least in my area, to find 16 count crayon boxes. We buy the 64 count crayon boxes, separate the crayons into color families, and then divide them equally into four sets of 16 crayons each.

As with all my tutorials, if you have any trouble or find any problems with my instructions leave them in the comments section and I'll try to help as best I can.

And if you aren't the sewing type, print off the instructions for a sewing friend to make one for you, or buy some from my shop, Cranial Hiccups!


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22 cranially charged comments:

Mrs. Organic said...

I have a new project of rmy girls now - thanks for this.

Samantha said...

You are seriously the best! Thanks so much for this! And how fun for your girls to make stuff to sell, together no less! I love it!

Tirzah said...

That is so cute! Thanks for the tutorial!

Crystal said...

Thanks for the tutorial. I really have been wanting to make one of these and also one of your bags. Thanks so much for taking the time to write the instructions.

water works said...

Thanks for taking the time to write out the steps for this. My six year old's been asking me to teach him to sew on my machine. This is a great project for him to do with some help from me...and it'll make a great gift for his toddler sister.

On another note, my husband and I have reviewed your posts on food storage and usage. You had many good tips and ideas that we are incorporating into our own "larder" organization. With a growing family (3 so far) and very type A personalities, it's necessary for us to preplan meals and food usage. Thanks for those ideas, too.

Amber M. said...

I love your tutorials...so easy to follow and deliriously cute. I'll be making a couple of these for birthday parties this week. Thank you for sharing your talents...

My Ice Cream Diary said...

When I first saw these I thought, "What a waste. My little ziplock bag of crayons works perfectly well." THEN my sister in law made these for my children for Christmas and my thought was quickly changed. The best part of these is that the kids can spread them across their lap and the crayons stay put. They are the best thing ever for road trips and at church.

Sarah Marie said...

What a cute idea! I have a new sewing machine and I'm finding your tutorials to be so helpful and fun... thanks!

Ashli said...

I LOVE your blog. I can't remember where I found it, but I love reading it. You are so creative, and with four little ones of my own (all under 5), I find fun things to do with them in a hurry. I've linked to your blog from mine so that my followers know where I am getting such great ideas. I hope that is okay with you. I also love how you helped with the customizing your blog tutorials. It gives me something to do with mine now. Thank you so very much for keeping this SAHM on the creative side.

Sea Star said...

This doesn't look too hard. Maybe my very meager sewing skills could accomplish this one. I think Sophie would love one.

Marni said...

Have you heard of youcanmakethis.com? You should really sell your patterns there!

Crazy Daisy said...

This is SO awesome. I might have to give it a try this summer!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I loved making it. My dd loved taking it out when we went to dinner.

Persikka said...

I love this - and i can't wait to make some!

I might also try making it so the bigger "toddler" cryaons fit (though - they might - guess i'll see after my first try making this!)

Thanks for sharing your tutorial!!

High-Heels And A Sippy-Cup said...

Love this! Thanks for posting the tutorial. I think all make these to add to the Art/Craft-take-along-cases I'm putting together for my boys for Christmas. :-)

Leigh said...

Thank you so much for this!!! I'm just finishing one up as a LAST minute gift! Perfect!

Lisa said...

OOH I loved this so much I had to make one this afternoon!!! I will be posting a picture of mine and a link back to you blog July 2nd for my Christmas in July post of the day!!! This is a excellent tutorial and it was super easy to make!!!

Jennifer said...

I did this for the Waldorf stockmar beeswax crayons...for a set of 8, make the fabric 12" and then on the pocket measure 1 inch on either side, then make each crayon slot 1.25 inches.

thanks for a great tutorial

Liz (Loving Mom 2 Boys) said...

thank you thank you thank you!! I realize this is super old, but I've been hunting for a crayon roll tutorial and this is by far the best one I have found!!!

La TempĂȘte said...

I love this idea. Christmas presents ahoy!

Thank you for the clear tutorial. I just love it when I find great ones like this. I can see myself making lots!

La TempĂȘte said...
This post has been removed by the author.
Cami said...

I am going to make one of these for my son's stocking! Thanks for the tutorial. I have to say that your "chocolatey" nicknames for your family are the most adorable things! So sweet. :)

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