Valences Galore

One of my sweet daughters-in-law just moved AND got a new classroom (see Embroidered Classroom Poster), so I had fun sewing valences for both places. For the kindergarten room, I found a crayon print on the sale table at my local Hancock Fabrics and bought a yard of alphabet/number print for a contrast border. For the dining nook, Jen and Greg chose a green/blue plaid from Fabric.com and I found a matching blue trim at Jo-Ann. They’re in the mail to their new homes!  ♥

Embroidered Classroom Poster

One of my teacher friends posted this adorable chart-paper poster from the First Grader At Last! blog on Pinterest. I wanted to make one for a teacher in my family, but instead of recopying it on paper I decided to embroider the whole thing! Crazy, I know! 🙂 But here are the steps:

• Find some fabric that looks like notebook paper, cut out a rectangle, and embroider the red line and “holes.”
• Print the sayings lightly in pencil on the lines.
• Embroider, using a different color of floss for each line.
• Cut out a piece of quilt batting and back fabric, stack and pin (with right sides together), and stitch the sides and bottom.
• Trim the seams, turn, press, and top stitch the edges.
• Sew a strip of 2-inch seam facing to the top (right sides together), fold it back to make a dowel rod casing for hanging, and handstitch it down.

Here’s my colorful version, taped (a bit wonkily!) to a wall for a photo shoot before heading to a new kindergarten classroom. Happy school year! ♥