I decided to make crayon rolls for my kids after seeing Valerie make a felt crayon wallet for her daughter over at Inner Child Fun. I’ve admired crayon rolls on many blogs, but I was attracted to the idea of using felt as a material because it’s so easy to sew. My crayon rolls are quite a bit different from Valerie’s crayon wallet, so I’ve included a tutorial. These crayon rolls were super easy to make, and could also be sewn by hand – it would take a little longer but might also look nicer.
Crayon Roll Tutorial
MATERIALS:
- 1 9×12 sheet of felt (standard size sold in craft stores)
- 2 3×11 strips of felt
- velcro
STEPS:
1) Divide each felt strip into eight sections and mark. I used a pen with disappearing ink for this step.
2) Stitch each strip to the sheet of felt and stitch section lines (see photo below for placement.)
3) Attach velcro. Emma’s fingers in the above photo show the placement for one hook piece and one loop piece. I sewed a second piece of hook velcro directly behind the hook piece on the side you see in this photo to keep the crayon roll shut. You can either add a second loop piece for this to attach to, or have it attach itself to the felt (my solution). Here is Emma’s finished crayon roll filled with crayons:
And Johnny’s crayon roll rolled up (with crayons inside) – you fold it in half lengthwise first, which makes it more compact and keeps the crayons from falling out:
Both kids like their crayon rolls, although Johnny only uses his properly about half the time and methodically removes and throws each crayon the rest of the time. Emma neatly removes one crayon at a time, colors with it, and carefully replaces it.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Hi MaryAnne!
Believe it or not, I have never made a crayon roll. I don't know why! I've wanted to, because it is much cooler than the noisy ziploc bag that houses our crayons in Emily's church bag. I love your double-decker version – smart. If I ever finally make one (and I should), I will do it like yours – very clever use of space! Thanks for the idea!
@Infant Bibliophile – a matchbox car activity mat similar to this sounds great, can't wait to see yours!
Very cute! I want to do something like this with matchbox cars and a piece of road/city fabric I have in my sewing room. I hope I'll do it and post this week, but you know how that goes sometimes. We'll see.
They look great!
@Keeling – baby is due July 31st – any day now…
You're such a talented little lady! I don't know how you do all you do! When is the baby due?
I should do this. Now.
Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com
Twitter: AboutParenting
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very cool and how handy!
Wow! I love your version of this… so many crayons! I've started making some as gifts for kid's birthdays, and they are always well-received. Thanks so much for the link!
I love crayon rolls! If I had a sewing machine I would DEFINITELY make one!
That's a great idea! It looks pretty simple to make too!
Hi! I'm visiting from MBC. Great blog.
Funny, I was just thinking this morning that I'd like to make a crayon roll for our trip next week, and I meant to look up some of the tutorials I'd bookmarked.
Good timing – thanks!
Great idea. I've seen similar things in stores that are really expensive. You should sell yours!
so cute and creative
that's a good idea to fold it in half before rolling. I've made a similar thing for my crochet needles and they always fell out.