Travel Roll-Ups

My amazing mother is leaving for a mission trip this weekend. She is going to Nicaragua. My mom has gone on many mission trips with her church high school youth group. Most of these where when she did not have any children in the group. My mom just has a way with youth. She taught kindergarten for my over 25 years, and now teaches third grade. We tease her that five year olds can smell her out. It is simply mind-boggling how she is able to connect with any child. She also has a special connection with the high school youth at her church. The above picture is from her last trip to Puerto Rico, she’s in the red hat and sunglasses 🙂 I believe it has to do with her completely genuine approach to life. She isn’t fake. What you see is what you get. And she treats the youth like they are people, not kids. She also exudes faith. She lives it, breaths it. She is a disciple in ever sense of the word.And thus, everyone loves her. everyone.
She keeps saying that this is her last year working with the church youth. But she keeps coming back. And she continues to be asked back.

So off to Nicaragua she goes!

Last week she asked me if I would make herself and some of her good friends a little gift for their trip. I was more then happy to help.
I’m not sure what to call these so I’m going with travel roll-ups. They are little pouches to hold a toothbrush, toothpaste and few other small toiletries.

They were very quick to make and I think they turned out really cute. These would also be very easy to personalize and change up for your individual needs. I choose to make these quite simple, as the people these are intended for will be traveling via plane, and thus limited to what they can carry.
I started with a hand towel, cut in half the “hamburger” way. If you don’t know what this means, please return to elementary school art class 🙂

I made a quick seam on the rough edge. The folded the rough edge up to the desired size of the pouch. I just used a tooth brush to measure this. Then I sewed up one side. When I flipped to sew up the other side of the pouch I added my a ribbon ties.  I measured a piece of ribbon that was slightly longer then the pouch then doubled it. I tucked the ribbon, folded in half, in the seam to be sewn. *Note: If your ribbon has a print, make sure the print faces in to the other piece of ribbon. This way, when you tie the pouch, the print will show. Lastly, add a few lines of stitches to separate out your pockets. Now, just add your items, roll it up and tie a bow! TA-DA!
So cute and so easy. Plus, if it gets all grimy during travels, just throw it in the wash! I hate the icky grime that always collects at the bottom of my toiletry bag!

I can’t wait to hear all about my mom and friend’s trips and hope they enjoy their roll-ups!

On a personal note, while I was sewing this little girl was working SO hard at rolling over! She gets her arm stuck under her, but other than that she goes from back to belly! She’s growing up too fast for this momma’s liking!

And to make a momma proud, Josiah found his “bebe” (baby) in the toy bin then asked for a “deek” (drink) for her. He was quite pleased when I gave him a bottle, and did a great job feeding his baby. He also tried the bottle for himself. Silly boy!

Happy Harvesting,
Leah