Car Roll Tutorial

 

November is such a crazy time.  There are so many projects that have to be made for birthdays and Christmas.  Making things is so much more fun then buying something random.  Anyways, I made this cute car roll for Moose's best buddy's 2nd birthday.  I'm loving how it came out and her friend has been having a blast putting his hot wheels in the little pockets.  So here is how I made it so you can make one too!  I don't have photos for every step because Moose was "helping" me the entire time and I couldn't juggle her and a camera very well.

 

Supplies:

1/4 of a yard of green fabric

1/4 of a yard of some fun print fabric

Batting (about 16 inches by 9 1/2 inches)

5 Pieces of scraps of fabric at are 4 inches by 4 1/2 inches

Felt for roads, dirt, and water (I used the felt rectangle pieces you see everywhere in craft stores)

Bias Tape

Button

Elastic or a hair tie



Step 1:

Cut 2 16 inch by 9 1/2 inch rectangles.  One should be of green fabric and the other a fun print for the outside of your roll.  Cut 5 4 inch by 4 1/2 inch rectangles of fun fabric.  I went for a rainbow effect.

Step 2:

Sew the 4 inch by 4 1/2 inch squares together to form a strip with a 1/4 seam allowance (I think...I didn't write that down when I was doing it).  Fold the top down and sew to make a nice hem so that each color rectangle is actually now a 4 inch square.

 

Step 3:

Line up the bottom of the strip with the long side of the green fabric and sew.  You can kind of see it in the photo on the right. Then sew down the sides of each color square to make nice pockets for the cars.

 

Step 4:

Make your roads and other elements.  I free hand drew them and kind of made it up as I went.  You will want your road to be 2 inches wide, but it can be a straight road or a curvy road.  Cut some brown blobs for a bumpy dirt road.  Make some brown rectangles for a bridge.  Finally cut some blue for the pond.  I really wanted to add a duck, but I didn't have the time.  When you sew the pieces on don't put them to close to the edge or you will not have room for your bias tape.

 

Step 5:

Layer your top fabric (the one with the stuff on it), the batting underneath it, and the outside fabric (the nice side should face the table) to make a nice sandwich.  Yummy. =) Then sew around all 4 side and you can go in about a 1/4 inch to even an 1/2 inch if you have wide enough bias tape to hide it.

 

Step 6:

The part I always forget to do is sewing down the elastic.  To figure where you want it, you have to fold your piece in half and pick a half way between that fold.  Or you could just do it 1/4 from the bottom, but I don't think like that.  Sew it on really well. Ideally it would be sew on step 5, but why complicate things?  =)

 

Step 7:

Now to figure out where that button goes...load up cars into all the pockets and fold that roll up. Then see where that spot where the elastic would nicely go around a button and mark it. then unroll and sew your button on. 

 

Step 8:

Sew your bias tape around the edge and your roll should be complete!

 

 

If you have any questions or I typed something a bit too strangely please let me know!  Enjoy your car roll!