Little things

I am on a sewing streak! I've got the top part of the quilt totally done. Now I just have to quilt it together with the back and the batting, which is the part I think I'm most intimidated by. Unfortunately, I just realized that I did not by the right color thread for the backing, so I'm losing out on some prime sewing time tonight while the hubs plays poker with his buddies. Dangit.

So instead, I'm digging through the crazy long list of tutes I have bookmarked and working through some of those. First up, this crayon roll tutorial. I've been dying to make this, and after last weekend's brunch debacle where E's crayons kept rolling off the table, this jumped to the top of the list. I must say, this thing was super fast and easy to make. And since it's relatively small, it's a nice way to use up some of the scrap pieces I have hanging around. I made a few modifications though.

First, I shortened it so it only holds 12 crayons instead of 16. Because really, my kid is 2 and she doesn't need 16 freaking crayons to color with while we're out. Honestly, she doesn't need 12 either, but I thought it would look funny to have a crayon roll that only holds like, 6 crayons. Basically, you can make it as long or as short as you want by figuring out 1" per crayon, plus your seam allowances (she uses 1/4" in the tutorial)

I also gave myself a wider seam allowance (1/2") on the sides so that I'd have a little more room for error, and also so when I topstitched, I wouldn't end up with too narrow slots on the ends. So I cut two pieces of 13"x5" fabric for the inside and outside, and then one piece 13"x6" and folded that in half lengthwise for the slots. I also decided to use some thin cotton batting instead of interfacing and basted that to the inside piece. E is rough on her crayons, not to mention things get banged around quite a bit inside my bag, so I figured the extra padding wouldn't hurt.

Here is the finished product!




E walked in the craft room just as I was finishing it up and when I told her it was for her, she said, "Oh Mommy! It's pretty!" Ah, that kid sure knows how to make my heart swell.

Here's where I'm at with the quilt too.


Next up, some more zipped pouches (in a couple different styles), and maybe a dress for E as well. And I have more diapers and such to make too, so probably lots of cutting.