Crayon Rolls

I absolutely LOVE these adorable crayon rolls to hold the kiddos crayons.  I first discovered the idea over at my friend Kelly-Anne's blog, Crafty Teacher Lady.  She, as I, chose to use an alternative closure to the ribbon that I have seen on so many of these rolls.  I've tried a few different patterns and after pulling stitches and tweaking I think I finally have the perfect size crayon roll!

Here's my little trip down crayon-roll-lane and I hope you find it useful.....

You will need:
3 coordinating fabrics cut to 14.5' x 5'
One of these will need to have interfacing on the back.  This will be the piece you are using as your backdrop.
2.75' piece of stretchy elastic and 1 button
(or you can follow Kelly-Anne's lead and just go with the piece of 7.5' elastic, no button required!)
A ruler
A pencil in a coordinating color so you won't see your lines

First step is to choose which pieces will go where on the roll.  One piece will act as the entire back, one will be the backdrop which the 'pocket' will be sewn to.  The pocket will be one of the 14.5' x 5' pieces folded in half wrong sides together.

You'll want to go ahead and top-stitch across your pocket piece at this point.  Then starting from the middle working out measure and mark vertical lines every 3/4 of an inch.  

You should end up with 1.25' remaining on either end.  This is going to allow extra room for your seam and top-stiching if you choose.

Begin sewing along the lines you made being sure to back-stitch at the top of the pocket.  This is the part that takes the longest!  Just keep stitching.....

Next, on the right side of your front panel (the backdrop & pocket) you'll measure up 3.5' from the bottom.  This is where you will secure your looped piece of 2.75' elastic.  Lay your backing on top of your front panel, right side together, and stitch down the right side being sure to go back and forth over the elastic a few times to be sure it is secure.  Now open the seam and on the back panel measure out from your elastic 4.75' and up 3.5' from the bottom.  This is where you will sew on your button.  I cut a small piece of interfacing and ironed it onto the back panel before I attached my button.  

After your button is attached match the pieces right side together once again and sew around the remaining edges.  Leave a small opening (I left mine on the side w/o the elastic) for turning the roll right-side-out.  Snip your corners to reduce bulk. When you have your roll all turned and ready, sew up your opening - sometimes I even use fabric glue before I sew it just for extra hold.  

You are done!!!  This one doesn't have crayons in it yet but it will look great when it does!  I'm planning on making a couple more in a fireman pattern for my twin nephews for Christmas gifts.  I think I'll pair them w/some GIANT coloring books!