Monday Made-it:Chair Back Pockets

Happy Tuesday everyone! I was so busy yesterday I couldn't get this post up in time for "Monday". We have Meet the Teacher Night on Wednesday so the room has to be done. So I worked ALL day in one form or another. The day, was spent on my Monday Made-It: Chair Back Pockets (not really sure what their official name is, LOL) The evening, into the wee hours of the morning, were spent finishing up my classroom. You all I was there until 2 AM! That's right in the morning! I was then up at 7 to take my own girls to the zoo for our last summer day together.

Now for the Monday Made-It: Make sure you hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics to check out the other wonderful-ness going on there.

Hop on over and check it out

Now to show off these bad boys! Aren't they pretty!!!

As you know from previous posts, I am converting from desks to tables this year. I am very excited about the transition. To think no more lost papers, or playing with who-know's-what in the "black hole" that becomes most third graders' desks. Can I get an "amen". I was kind of nervous about the switch at first and wasn't sure I wanted to commit. But after having a conversation with some other teachers I returned to my room and bumped into a desk and half of its contents spilled out onto the floor. I had a light bulb moment and thought "won't have to deal with that anymore, sign me up"

Well converting to desks has its own set of challenges. Mainly--where to put all the stuff that used to go in the pit of the desk????

Well when you have a big sewing project, who do you call? Well, for me it is the wonderful ladies shown below. Back row is my husband's great Aunt Mary, next is my mother-in-law Nancy, front left is my husband's Aunt Darla, and next is his Great Aunt Jewel. Missing from the photo is my own mother who helped me select the proper fabric. I hope I can grow up to be as classy as these ladies still are! I love them very much.

Now people, I haven't sewn since...8 years old and 4-H, seven score and 40 years ago! There was no way I was going to take this on by myself. So I called up Aunt Jewel and these other ladies and they helped me make it happen. Mrs. Young's Sweat Shop in full operation!! We had a full on assembly line, with people on several machines, cutting, ironing, talking, laughing and so on. 

Now for the Details:

I purchased pretty heavy weight fabric. I wanted these puppies to last. I guess you get what you paid for. I had a 40% off coupon (JoAnn's) and then a 20% off on top of that for my birthday and the total was still $100. I about fainted. The fabric is heavy like denim. It was called "bottom weight", but I have no idea what that means. You want the fabric to make it through the wear and tear of those little hands, so I'm hoping it is worth the extra expense. I also purchased the widest fabric they had. This helps you make more with each cut. One color was 54" wide and the other was 60". I purchased 13 yards and it made 31 with left over fabric. So you probably could purchase less and it would be make plenty.

The dimensions were 38" long and 15" inches wide with a double 1" seam on each side. The double seam is important. This way you are really reinforcing the sides and they won't rip out. You would have to adjust your width according to your chair. My advice bring home a chair and test them out as you go. (I'm holding onto the chairs I have now for dear life)

Aunt Jewel has a serger so we used that to bind the edges. If you don't have a serger then you will have to fold the length edges over twice to make a finished edge. Fold the top edges over too. One needs to fold toward you and the other away from you. (sorry I promise I took lots of pictures, but the files are damaged, go figure).

After that fold the top portion down 7.5" this is for the pocket that will hang over the top of the chair. Fold the bottom portion up the other direction to meet this seam, creating your back pocket. See first picture to get the idea. I intend to only put library books, and their math and reading journals in here.

The finished stack! I was so proud!

Check back soon! The next post will be my classroom reveal. Meet the teacher is tomorrow night!