Confessions of a Wannabe Seamstress: DIY Car/Crayon Holder

Has everyone recovered from their turkey coma and/or black Friday shopping?  Since I now have 2 boys, I'm always looking for sewing projects for them. There are tons out there for little girls that I want to do or have done for my own daughter, but now I'm in boy mode.

Since my oldest started school, I have been in the mood to sew during those quiet afternoon hours. My first project is a stocking stuffer for Christmas for my almost three year old son. 

I can remember sitting in church one Sunday while I tried to wrestled with my 18 month old son. I looked over at a family whose son was kneeling on the floor and quietly playing with this matchbox car holder and driving it on a road. I also have an older daughter who recieved a crayon holder from our good friend when she about 2. I loved both those ideas and decided to combine them for my son (who LOVES cars and is just getting interested in coloring). This car/crayon holder is perfect for church, out at a restaraunt, keeping busy at a doctor's office...basically just stash in your purse/diaper bag and pull it out when you need your little one to self entertain for a few minutes.

I found some cute fabric and matching ribbon at JoAnne's. Because I'm still learning to sew, I bought a half yard of each pattern (I knew I'd mess up and need extra). I also needed a single square of felt (but if you have scrap felt around, that works too. You only need a little of that).

 First, the finished prodcut is about 8 inches tall and 15 inches wide. I gave myself an inch of extra hemming space. So I cut all three of the fabrics to 9 inches tall by 16 inches wide.

You'll want to start with sewing the pocket for the cars/crayons to the inside piece of fabric. Take your pocket frabric (in my case, the green) and fold it in half. Iron well to create a nice crease. Then pin the pocket fabric to the bottom half of the larger fabric (see pic below). You'll want the portion of the fabric with the crease at the top and the open ends at the bottom. Sew along the sides and bottom. DO NOT sew the portion of the fabric with the crease!!

 Now it's time to sew the pockets. I measured the pockets to hold 4 matchbox cars and 7 crayons. You can adjust more or less of each size according to your wants. The car pockets are roughly 2 inches wide and the crayon pockets are about 1 inch wide. (side note, I did end up with a really tiny pocket after all my crayon pockets were finished. I should have just made that last pocket a little bigger instead. Oh well, sa la vie! I think it's big enough that it could fit a golf sized pencil or pen)

 Once your pockets are sewn, it's time to sew on the front piece of material. Pin your two large pieces of material together and sew around the edges. You'll want to leave a portion on the bottom (where your pockets are) unsewn so you can 1)turn it rightside out and 2) sew your ribbon in place.

 Once all 4 sides are sewn, turn your fabric rightside out and give it a good iron. Insert your ribbon into the spot you prepared and either handsew the closure shut or use the machine. I didn't measure my ribbon--I just cut plenty of it and will trim it down later.

Now it's time to make the road. I folded the top half down (see picture below) so I could get an idea of where to sew the lines for the road. (I wanted it to be somewhat centered).

 I cut 3 peices of white felt (I didn't measure, just eyeballed what I thought looked good) and pinned them in place. I did a quick line through the felt with my machine.

 And TA-DA you're done!

 And ready to play!

 When you're all done, just roll it up, tie, and pop it in your purse or diaper bag. Neat and tidy and doesn't take up too much space.

I can't wait for my son to receive this in his stocking on Christmas morning. I also made another one as a gift for his cousin. I'm pretty sure any  of my friends with little boys will be getting one too :) These are cute, practical, and can be sewn together in an afternoon.