Crayon Holder

Crayon Holder!
a tutorial

I love this project! It can be modified for so many different things. I've made it for knitting needles and paint brushes so far :) I wonder whether it would work for taking cutlery on a picnic... maybe double as a napkin? Hmm...


I found the most adorable fabric at JoAnn's! Crayons... on fabric! It's part of a "back to school" line... all of it is so cute it makes me glad I'm not teaching any more or I'd feel obligated to buy it all and find something to do with it ;)

ANYway...

You'll need two fabrics - one for the outside and an accent color for the inside. I tried using batting for one of the knitting needle carriers I made a while back but it was WAY too bulky. Don't do it... the two layers of fabric work just fine!

Cut two rectangles (one of each fabric). The rectangles will be a different size depending on what you're putting in them... you want the height to be a little more than twice the length of the crayon (or paint brush, etc.) and the width will depend on how many you want to be able to put in it. My rectangles were 22" by 8" so I was able to cut enough for two crayon holders out of the 44" wide fabric off the bolt. (Note: when I make this again I'll make it 12" by 22"... see final product and comments at the bottom of this post)



If you're going to do any embroidery, now's the time! First I embroidered the name on the crayon fabric but it was so busy that it blended right in... so I made a patch to put over the first attempt :) After embroidering the name, cut it out, iron the edges under, and stitch it (I used a zigzag stitch in the same color thread as the name) onto the fabric that will be the outer layer. Please fold the outer layer fabric the way you anticipate having it folded for the pocket later on to figure out where to line up your patch... the first time I did this the name ended up really off-center. Thankfully the recipient is 2 years old and doesn't care... but you can learn from my mistakes and avoid this one :)




Next, sew the right sides of the rectangles together, leaving about 2 inches open somewhere so you can turn it right side out. Include a hair band or piece of ribbon in the short end seam right next to the name. You'll use this to tie the whole thing together when it's all rolled up. The part that will go around the holder needs to be poking inside... just a little short section should poke out with the raw edges right now. Don't forget to back stitch over it to make sure it's secure.

Turn the holder right sides out.


Next, iron all the edges...

... tucking in the raw edges of the hole you used to turn it right side out and creasing well.


Fold up the bottom edge and iron across the full length of the holder. Check to make sure the depth of the pocket is correct for the item being put in... I made this one so it reached about half-way up the crayon (so that when the crayons get worn down they won't get stuck... at least for a while :)
Top stitch across the long side that will be the top edge of the pocket.

Top stitch around the perimeter of the rectangle (the bottom edge is 4 layers of fabric due to the fold). When you sew the short ends, be sure to strongly secure the corner of the pocket and back-stitch across the tie.

Use the crayons/paint brushes/knitting needles/etc. to determine how wide the pockets should be and PIN PIN PIN! Then sew from the bottom edge up to the edge of the pocket. I recommend back-stitching to reinforce the top of the pocket since there will be a lot of tugging going on while the crayons are being put in and taken out.

I made the pockets wide enough for the fat crayons that my nephew will use first (he's turning 1... happy birthday, Titus!), but I don't have any yet so here's a photo of what it looks like with regular crayons in it.
(Kat - they're in rainbow order for you ;)

Then roll up and secure with the hair band or ribbon!


(You'll notice that mine isn't quite tall enough... it's supposed to have enough fabric left at the top to fold down and hold the crayons in. When I did this for paint brushes the top flap folded all the way down and overlapped the bottom pocket by an inch, which was much more secure.)

Happy 9 months, Andrew!

Yesterday on July 4, 2011, we celebrated Independence Day, 3 years of owning and living in our house, and Andrew turning 9 months old :) He is now 2 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds 12 ounces. That puts him in the 41st percentile for height and 37th percentile for weight... he's slowed down in the past few months! His head circumference, however, is still in the 91st percentile!


He's still a very happy baby... especially when he wakes up in the morning and after naps.

Good morning, Momma! I'm so happy to see you!

I like sleeping with my feet sticking out :)

(Naps are fun times to stick feet out too!)

We're both really enjoying having James home from school this summer! He's had a few weeks on and off of working so it's been a great combination of time at home and additional income :) Andrew really loves having both parents at his beck and call ;)

Playing with Daddy on the blue couch.

Andrew finished cutting two more teeth about 6 weeks ago (so he has 8 now) and now he's working on his canines now so EVERYTHING goes in his mouth.


Uncles Kevin and Kirk came to visit 2 weeks ago. It was fun to finally have Andrew meet the man from whom he got his middle name! We had a great time spending time with them and they were great with Andrew - all very comfortable with each other and a source of continual entertainment.




Like I said... everything goes in his mouth. Laptop wires (and Nintendo wires, while the Hellers were here and it was set up) and shoes are the ultimate goal... neither of which are we thrilled about :-/

He's doing a great army crawl now... our new game is to build a tower across the living room with his stacking cups and watch him crawl over to knock it down and then repeat ad nauseum. (Sadly, I don't have any photos of this...)

In his efforts to increase his mobility, he's starting to rock back and forth on his hands and knees. He can crawl for real if we help move his knees but he hasn't figured that part out on his own yet. He's more concerned with trying to stand up... except he tries to do it from lying on his belly and only succeeds in doing some funny yoga-style moves.

(Daddy thinks I look like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant when I do this, but Momma just rolls her eyes at him)

One of the fun things to watch Andrew do now that he's a little bit mobile is playing with the toys that roll. Except they usually end up under the futon and he gets stuck under there when he tries to go get them (it's high enough to get under but low enough that he bonks his head when he tries to look up and turn around). This results in Momma rescuing him many many many times during the day. We're working on coaxing him out and teaching him how to get out without our help :)

(I'll smile for the photo, Mom, but I'm really not happy here and you really should come help me before I get all the way under!)

This weekend he actually took a book to James, handed it to him, and then lay still while James read it to him! We don't know whether it was intentional or not, but it sure was cute :) He loves having books read to him right now! His favorites are Moo, Baa, La La La (Sandra Boynton) and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (Mem Fox, Helen Oxenbury). He GRINS and laughs when we start reading (or reciting!) them. He smiles and likes to help turn pages (making sure to taste them while turning) regardless of which book we're reading. (side note - Sandra Boynton has a huge series of baby board books that would make great grandparent gifts!)


He's been eating a wider variety of things now. He likes yogurt and apple sauce and Cheerios any time we give them to him and baby puffs are always a good snack or dessert too. Other baby foods (carrots, sweet potatoes, garden vegetables) are usually acceptable if mixed with apple sauce... otherwise they earn a "this is DISGUSTING!" look and lots of fussiness. He has successfully eaten pasta with tomato sauce, chunks of raw tomato (skin removed), bits of bread, potato, and tortilla. Most recently added to the "I think this is yummy and will keep eating it until you say I'm done" list is mango! Berries he likes but only gets occasionally, he still isn't a big fan of bananas, and cheese is definitely a NO for now.

I'm happy that he's learned how to drink from his sippy cup by himself (instead of requiring us to hold it up at an angle to get the water down in the nipple) but he drops it off his high chair frequently... we're trying to figure out how to teach him that when he drops things he doesn't get them back without unintentionally teaching him that when he's finished with his cup he should drop it on the floor.

Bye for now!