I have a couple of sets of knitting needles in a roll-up case, and as much as they don’t work for me I like the concept. I’m always trying to come up with crafty but practical things to make, and as Christmas is just round the corner and we’re on quite a budget I thought these could be quite cool little presents for the kids in our lives. Plus I have enough fabric to make a fair few of these little rolls too!

Things wot I learned with these.
1) Checked fabric on the inside makes it much easier when creating the individual pockets as you don’t have to constantly measure where you are…
2) …however it’s much less forgiving if your sewing skills (like mine!) aren’t the neatest.
3) 24 crayons is too much, the resulting case is too bulky. I would go with 16 at the most, but preferably 12.
4) The top flap is a nice touch, but don’t sew it down as it adds to the bulk and doesn’t offer any aesthetic benefit.
5) When sewing the individual pockets, it’s best to start from the bottom of the pocket rather than the top of what will be the flap. I did it the wrong way about and my fabric was getting caught under the foot of the sewing machine so the finish isn’t as neat as I’d wanted.

Okay! So I knew that I wanted the kids to be able to remove the crayons easily, but I didn’t want then to fall out. I pinned a few pockets 1.5cm apart and then some at 2cm apart, The 1.5cm pocket was very tight and would have probably damaged the crayons and made it difficult to roll the case up. 2cm is the optimum pocket size and also makes for easy calculations for fabric needs. I used a checked cotton for the inside and a nice heavy cord fabric for the outside.

Put the fabric right sides together and pin into place. If you’re using a ribbon tie, pin the ends of the ribbon onto your fabric between the two layers and remember the ribbon has to be on the inside of your fabric sandwich.

Stitch round the whole thing so you’re left with a big rectangle. Remember to leave an opening to turn your case right side out.

Turn your case right side out. If you’re any good at handsewing, finish the seam off my hand for a more professional look. I’m not, so I machine sewed this part. Fold up your case to leave a 7cm pocket, pin and sew the edges up to the top of the fabric. Mark off your pockets at 2cm intervals – for me, this was three squares on the checked pattern. Sew up to the top of the fabric.

Once your individual pockets are all sewed up (and this is the time consuming part!) your case is ready to roll (oh rofflecopters, I made a funny). Here’s my finished prototype.

Posted under for the kids, sewing