Monday Made-It 7/28

Well, I am officially back to school everyone! As a new teacher, I started with meetings and trainings last Thursday. Those continue all week until Meet the Teacher this Friday, August 1st, and kids come back the following Tuesday, August 5th. Stay tuned for pictures of my classroom!!!

With all this busy-ness, this will probably be my last time linking up with 4th Grade Frolics Monday Made-It (not actually sure when they're officially over for the summer...) but I am excited to say that this is my FAVORITE Made-It yet!!!

This was a huge project that all started when I was deciding how I would organize all of my students' materials. My second graders sit at tables, which means that there is no individual storage for textbooks, folders, notebooks, etc. I decided to put a small shelf at each table to hold book boxes and textbooks, but that still left homework folders, math notebooks, and a few other small things. After lots of internet research, I knew exactly what I needed...CHAIR POCKETS!

The problem was, even in bulk the cheapest I could find them was $7 each and I just couldn't afford that as a first year teacher (can any teacher??). So I decided to make them and they turned out GREAT!  I had a hard time finding a solid tutorial online, so I took a lot of pictures and this blog post is me trying to make my own tutorial...I figure there must be other teachers out there who want great storage for their students without breaking the bank! Keep reading to the bottom to see pictures of the final product. (Side note: I had never used a sewing machine in my life before this project, so trust me when I say anyone can do this!!!)

I wanted these to be sturdy and long-lasting so after shopping around, I ordered Duck Cloth as the material I would use. I waited and waited until it went on sale at JoAnns for just under $4 per yard. I bought 8 yards and that made 30 chair pockets, so they ended up costing me just over $1 each. YAY!

1. I started by cutting rectangles that were 30 inches by 18 inches. On the 18 inch side that I cut (the other 18 inch side was the edge of the fabric) I folded up and sewed about a quarter of an inch to prevent fraying. Don't worry that the 30 inch sides are cut and might fray because they will become seams that are turned inside out.

2. Then, I folded the sewn edge up 9 and a half inches, with sewn edge/flap facing out, and sewed along each side. Once the edges were sewn, I flipped the pocket that I had just created inside out, so that all seams were on the inside.

  This is after it was flipped inside out:                                                  

3. See in that second picture above how the sides fold in a little bit because it was flipped inside out? The next step was to make a small cut on each side so that the top half lay totally flat.

4. Next, I folded the top edge down to meet the top of the pocket. I sewed along the edges, and then flipped the top pocket inside out also.

That's literally it! It's not hard at all, and they look great...I ran by school this weekend to try them out and I am in love with how they look:

Here are some things you might want to consider if you are going to try this pocket:

• Originally, I made them 30in x 16in...those fit on the second-grade-sized chairs, but they were stretched too tight to fit much inside the pocket. 30in x 18 in is a tiny bit loose, but they seem to be staying on the chairs just fine and since they are not stretched so tight, a binder and some folders/notebooks easily fit inside. The moral is, measure your chairs and do a practice one first!
• I wish the top pocket that goes over the chair was just and inch longer, to be even more secure around the chair. To do this, cut your fabric to 31in x 18in (are whatever the width) and follow all of the step exactly the same. 
• The best part about this project is that nothing has to be totally exact and they don't have to be exactly identical. The pattern is very forgiving and yours are sure to turn out great!

Please, PLEASE leave me feedback, follow my blog via email on the right, and wish me luck for Meet the Teacher this week! I will be back with pictures and stories as soon as I have them :) Thanks <3