Train Caddy {Tutorial}

I promised a fun tutorial in celebration of Boy Month over at Made by Rae and Made, and here it is! I know there are lots of CAR caddy's out there, but my boy is particularly fond of trains, so I adjusted the pocket measurements a bit and here's what we've got:

It;'s a huge hit for my son and we take it everywhere. So let's get started!! Hooray for boys!! 

Here's what you'll need:

Felt: 10" x 19"
        2- 19" x 1/2" strips
        8- 3" x 1/2" strips
Cotton fabric: 10" x 19"
           19" x 3.5"
           8" x 1.5"
1.5" vecro

**Note: I made two of these at the same time, using two different colors of felt...don't be confused by theblue and the green:) **

1. First, you need to position and sew the train track to the felt. You'll be placing it on the top half of your felt piece. but not too close to the edge, you need room for a seam allowance!

2. Okay, now we need to make the train pockets. You'll need your 3.5" x 19" piece of fabric. Fold one of the long edges down 1/4" and press. Then fold it down again about a 1/2" and press. Then top stitch it. Then you'll align the long, raw edge of the 3.5" x 19" piece with the bottom of your large felt piece and sew it down along the sides and bottom. To make the pockets, find the center of your pocket panel and pin it. now measure out 3.5" pockets from the center and pin each one. (The two outer pockets will be slightly larger than 3.5" which allows for the seam.) Sew down these pockets.

3. Now take the 10" x 19" piece of fabric and place the soft side of the velcro right in the center and about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Sew.

4. To make the tab that will keep the caddy together you'll need your 8" x 1.5" piece of fabric. Fold in one of the short ends about a 1/2" and press. Then fold it in half lengthwise and press. Open it and then fold it lengthwise again, but only to the center fold, and press, like in the picture below. Do this to both long sides and then fold once more on your original fold and press. This will give you a strip with no raw edges along the long sides and one of the short ends as well. Now edgestitch around all sides.

5. Now sew the rough side of the velcro to the strip, on the opposite end of the raw edge. It should look something like this:

6. Pin the velcro enclosure tab onto the felt panel, velcro side down, about a 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (so that it will align will the soft side of the velcro, which is on the fabric panel) being sure to leave 7" of the tab. the rest will hang over. See the picture below to get exactly what I'm talking about :)

7. Now, place and pin the fabric panel and felt panel right sides together.

8. Sew all the way around, making sure you catch the enclosure tab and leave a 4" hole in the middle of one of the sides (either the top or the side opposite of the enclosure tab). Trim any excess fabric and clip the corners.


9. Turn the fabric right side out, press and edgestitch all the way around
 
You're Done!! Now fill that sweet little thing with trains and make a little man very happy!

If you're wanting to Celebrate the Boy, be sure to head over to Made  and Made by Rae!

Sharing the love at some of the following:
Monday:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Keeping it Simple-- Motivate Me Mondays
Skip to my Lou-- Made by You Mondays
Sew Can Do-- Craftastic Monday 
C.R.A.F.T-- Making Monday Marvelous
Tuesday:
Sugar Bee-- Take a Look Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog-- Get Your Craft On!
Creative Itch-- Sew Cute Tuesday
Tip Junkie-- Tip Me Tuesday
Wednesday:
Sew Much Ado-- We Did It Wednesday!
Blue Cricket Designs-- Show and Tell
Someday Crafts -- Whatever Goes Wednesday
Show off Your Stuff -- Fireflies and Jellybeans
Friday: 
Simply Designing
Kojo Friday Fun Finds 
Fingerprints on the Fridge-- Feature Yourself Friday 
Tatertots and Jello-- Weekend Wrap-up
Weekend:
The Girl Creative-- Just Something I Whipped Up
Under the Table and Dreaming-- Sunday Showcase