Car Roll Tutorial

In my attempt to be the coolest aunt ever (I have 22 nieces and nephews so far!), I made this cute little car roll. It is made from some fabric I had on hand (it’s hard to find non-girly stuff in this family!) and some size 4T jeans that were headed for the garbage. I was inspired by THIS tutorial, but I wanted to do a few things differently:
a) I don’t have duck cloth and I don’t know where to get it. Hence the denim.
b) Sewing on little bitty pieces of yellow felt didn’t sound like fun. So I channeled my inner quilter and made the road that way.
c) I rolled it instead of folding so I didn’t go all fancy on the outside and I skipped the stenciling cause I didn’t feel like it.
d) I made my own strap to velcro on from fabric.

So without further ado... here is my version of the Look at that- a title photo just for this post! I am going all fancy here (OK, so I just got a cool close up and wanted to use it). I took the best pictures that I could get since PA is seeming more like Seattle these days. Of course, the sun came out when I was done, but I am not complaining ‘cause I missed it sooooo much! So forgive all of the poor quality pics. I tried.

Materials:

Black cotton
Yellow cotton
Any cotton for the pocket
1 ½ legs from an old pair of kids’ jeans
3/4" piece of Velcro
Thread

Part 1: The Road

Do all the cutting first and get it out of the way. You will need 2 pieces of black cotton measuring 2 3/4" by 14" for the "lanes" and for the "dashes" in the middle, you will need one piece EACH of black and yellow measuring 1 1/2" by 14". Sew the 2 small strips of black and yellow together lengthwise, then cut into 1" strips. Sew them all short ends together, alternating yellow and black. Then sew this row between the strips and press towards the "lanes" and you are all done with the road! EASY!

Part 2: The Velcro Strip

You will need a piece of cotton measuring 4" by 6" ( I just used yellow cause it was already 4" wide). Lots of ironing here- press in half lengthwise, open, and then press the edges in toward the center. Open it all up, hem in the end 1/4", and then sew your loopy velcro on one side just after the hem so the little box will be hidden. Fold the sides toward the center... ...and press it half. Then topstich around three sides, leaving the non-velcro side alone. See? No box on the other side.
Part 3: The Pockets

Now we are getting into the denim. Cut one piece from the pants 14" by 5 1/2" and from your other cotton cut a piece 14" by 6". Press the cotton in half, wrong sides together, and sew the raw bottom edges of the denim and cotton together (Good way to cover up a few stains here!)Topstitch the folded edge of the cotton just to keep it in place better. Then sew lines for pockets - mine were at about the the following intervals: 2 5/8", 4 7/8", 7", 9 1/8", and 11 1/4"
Part 4: The Outside

Take the remaining 2 pieces of denim, cut them to 14" by 5.5", and sew them together lengthwise and press the seams open.Sew the fuzzy piece of velcro on at 6" from the left end of the bottom piece and about 2 1/2" from the bottom edge.
Part 5: Assembly

Sew the two inside pieces together.Sew the raw-edge end of the velcro strip to the bottom, velcro up, lined up with the edge of the pocket. Go over it a bajillion times.

Sew the outside and inside together, right sides together, leaving the non-velcro end open, and flip (push those corners out real good!)Fold the opening edges in and topstitch the whole way around and down the middle, too. I used white thread cause I didn't feel like changing it, but I like it! It's kind of like road edges.

Part 6: PLAY!

I was so disappointed that I could only find Sheriff Rosco's car and not the General Lee. :( But Rosco always loses! Fold. And roll. Secure with velcro. Perfect to tuck away in Mom's purse or a backpack!