Personal Offices are Beneficial

             

Personal Offices

     I am the teacher at school that makes all sorts of things out of junk. So here was my version of a personal office.

        If you know me at all, I don't throw anything away.  (I have lessons from my first years of teaching.)  I also don't like to spend a lot of money on things that I can make myself.  A few years ago my class needed new personal offices and I found these boxes in the school cardboard recycle bin.  St. Michael Parish hosts fish dinners on Fridays during Lent.  So there were plenty of these fish boxes for the taking.  A application of wide clear tape on the corners, and I was done. They fold up and store on a shelf.   These personal offices have lasted for a good many years and didn't cost me a dime.

         I like to add information to the personal offices that can lead students to better writing. Here is a list of irregular verbs that can be tricky for some students.

        A chart with  comparisons can be helpful when writing an answer on a test.
       (Please excuse the outer cutting of paper on this chart.  Before school started I had  8th grade students do the cutting and pasting for me. They wanted service hours.  I would take any help I could get the week before school in August!)

      You can see that I like to turn my students desks so that wandering eyes do not have a chance to take a peek at the paper of a classmate. 

      As you can see these boxes were the perfect size for our 5th grade desks. I know they are not the prettiest or cutest that you have ever seen, but they do work well for my students. Each child has a private place to take their test.  I also like to turn desks for test taking.

       When each child finishes their test, they keep their personal office up as not to disturb any classmates.  Some students become very anxious when they see other children finishing early and turning tests in before others.  This also gives everyone the same amount of time to complete and check over answers written on the test paper.  So many times children rush through a test and leave answers blank.  Other children don't bother to reread paragraphs or short answers that they have written.  Before anyone turns a test I ask them to check all their answers and reread what they have written.  Then I ask for a "show of hands" of those who have found a mistake.   I see smiles of those students who have found a mistake and have made a correction.

    

      Do you use personal offices or study corrals in your class? 

Please leave a short comment if you have an extra minute.  I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.  

Have a Fabulous day!
Beti

 


 

Shorts and Halter Top

Shorts and Halter Top

           Everyone has old T-shirts in our closets, drawers, and on shelves.  these shirts can be favorites that are well worn.  They also can be only worn once and then stuffed to the back and not worn very often.  

            When making doll clothes I usually don't like to  to spend a lot of money for material.  When shopping I go to the remnant section first. One great buy was on the remnant rack and the sign said 50% off.    Then to the sale section, looking for the 70 or 80% off at JoAnn's.  They usually have a a nice selection, but you have to do a lot of searching.   

          I usually look through my material bin for pieces that are big enough to make a doll outfit.  Then came to my eye, the old T-shirts that were not being worn anymore.  There was a very pale lavender T-shirt with long sleeves. I know it looks  like it is light pale blue in the picture.  This halter and shorts outfit was one result of that shirt. 

                 Actually, from this one long sleeve T-shirt I made a baby doll sleeper, a long sleeve shirt for an American Girl Doll, and this halter and shorts set. There is some material left over, but I haven't decided what can be made from that scrap.   Scraps of material are so very useful in making doll clothes. You can view the sleeper and long sleeve shirt on previous posts. 

            I love the color of this T-shirt.  It is a raspberry heather color. Every year my husband and I go to the "Woodward  Dream Cruise".  We live near Detroit, the Motor City.  In August, Woodward Ave. becomes a mecca for old and classic cars. The auto makers give away t-shirts as souvenirs.  This was one of those shirts.

           

               The halter top started its life planning to be a doll skirt, but the base fabric scrap I had was a little too small for a skirt.  Once the ruffles were sewn on, and was fitted on the doll, I realized that it was WAY TOO short for a skirt. What was I going to do with these ruffles? 
 The light bulb turned on and the this halter was born. Two straps were sewn and added to the halter top and it was done. 

               These shorts were cut from the sleeves of the T-shirt.   This T-shirt that I used also was made into two other outfits.  I try to used as much of the fabric as I can.  The neck ribbing from a T-Shirt makes great bias tape to trim the sleeves on a sleeveless top or the neckline. 

             I these simple shorts and tops made from T-shirts will inspire you in making doll clothes in the future. My clothes are nothing fancy, but they will be played with for years to come. And the outfits will have a story behind them.

                 I would enjoy reading any comments you have about this post.  Feel fell to leave a comment.

          Happy Sewing! 

Beti

Shorts for American Girl Doll

  
     Shorts 
     from a
     T-shirt 

                      A pair of shorts is always a great piece of clothing to add to your doll's wardrobe.   A pink T-shirt was an interesting piece of fabric that I had in my stash.  I had used the shirt for several other pieces of doll clothes,that you can see in previous post,  but the sleeves were left over. There was just enough fabric to make a pair of shorts for an American Girl Doll.

              

             This is the pattern used to make the shorts. The shorts are a little roomy in the legs.  The young child would find these easy to put on and take off of their doll.  The pattern is on a 1 inch grid.  As you can see on the pattern, these shorts fit an American Girl Doll.

           As seen in the picture below, the shorts are laid out on the finished edge of the sleeve. This layout make the sewing very easy with just the front and back seams,  the waistline with elastic, and the inseam. 

              This pattern will also fit a Cabbage Patch doll comfortably.

                Here are the shorts with a little ruffled halter top also made from the same T-shirt material. The T-shirt material is so very soft and very easy to work with.  It doesn't wrinkle and very forgiving for young children to play with.

                       The shorts pattern will also fit a 14 inch Strawberry Shortcake baby doll.  The shorts are slightly more roomy fit on this doll.  The pattern could be made smaller to fir this size doll. 

                       I do hope that this idea and pattern are helpful for you and your doll clothing. Please leave my a comment if you have the time and any ideas you might like to share.

             Happy Sewing!

Doll T-Shirt

Doll  T-Shirt
       Remember these Old Navy shirts with the sparkles?  This one has been around for a long time.  It looked like a good piece that could be turned into doll clothes.

      I used the sleeves for a baby doll sleeper.  You can see it on a prior post for baby doll sleepers. The sleepers were made from recycled shirts made from different jersey knit materials.


      The pattern piece for the short front was positioned on top of the "Old Navy" logo.  Luckily, it fit perfectly!

                  Recycling is always a great idea.  To use an old shirt or other piece of clothing when making doll clothes is a win win situation.  You can clean out your closets and make something for a child that will have a story to go along with it. That piece of clothing can be passed down from one child to another through doll clothes.

       Keep Sewing and making happy memories for lots of people.  Enjoy your day!

Beti

You've earned a CONE!

CONES

          As the school year is beginning again, we all need something new in our classroom.  We all put up new boarders and use new colors to decorate our room. This year why not try a new technique to get those reluctant kiddos to contribute to the class discussions.  Several years ago I purchased three of these cones from the Dollar Tree to use in my class.
     
       I try to get reluctant students to raise their hands to contribute to the class discussion.  This was my answer.  I would give these cones out to students who had a good and thoughtful answer or comment to the class discussion.  It worked like a charm. 
    
          Every time a student gets a cone they actually don't get to keep it.  The cone gets to stay on the student's desk for the class period. At the end of the class the students return the cones so they can be distributed during the next class period. 
            
          As the years have gone by, my students have given me more as  Christmas gifts in a wide variety  of   colors.  My stack of cones has grown from three to more than two dozen. 

       The cones are well loved.  As you can  some of the lettering has worn off, and I have had to do some touch up with Sharpie marker.

     My kids love getting cones.  Some students actually have kept track of how many cones they have received during the year.  This has been a great positive reinforcement technique in my 5th Grade class. They are easliy disinfected with Clorox wipes to make your classroom a little more germ free.

 Head on over to Head Over heels for TEACHING and check out her great idea on classroom management. I have liked up with other teachers to this blog.
www.headoverheelsforteaching.blogspot.com 

   

Please leave a comment if you have a spare minute in your busy day.  I love reading your thoughts and ideas. 

Beti
   

Felt Hands

Little Felt

Hands

          We love to have our kids dip their hands in paint to make those cute little hand prints.  I thought it would be nice for my daughter and son-in-law to have a little hand of their child.  Daddy could keep it in his pocket, wallet, backpack, or brief case when he was at work or away from his precious child.  Mommy could keep this little keepsake in her purse, notebook, binder, bible, or wallet wherever she went.

       I started out by a simple outline of the child's hand. 

       The hand print was cut from felt. (Two hands were cut).  I hand stitched a small pink heart to the palm of the hand. Then the two hands were stitched together. You don't have to be proficient at sewing to make one.
       This one I added the year to the heart.

      One little hand for Mommy, and one little hand for Daddy. I made the hands for Valentine's Day gifts. 
     
      This is something that could be added to a baby book as a keepsake. Grandma would love to have one, too.  This could be a great beginner sewing project for a grade school child or for a Girl Scout sewing badge.

     These felt hands would be a simple gift to send to a mother or father who is in the military and has been deployed. Not too big, not too small.  Just the right size.  Your child's hand.

Enjoy your children now! 

They grow up so very fast.

     Please leave a comment if you have the time.  I'd love to hear from you.

  Beti

Halter and Pajama Pants

Halter and 

Pajama Pants

                  Dolls always need pajama pants.  So, I have been looking through my stash of material to make pajama pants for baby dolls and American Girl dolls.  I found an old pair of cotton pajama pants. Needless to say, they had seen a better day.  But the cotton material was perfect for doll clothes.  It was nice and soft, not sitff like new store bought material.  

             The navy blue with small white stars would be changed into doll pajama pants in no time.  The pattern has no side seam so the construction is so very simple.

             These pajama pants needed a summer halter top to complete the outfit.  I decided to make the halter reversible.  It just so happened that the inside waist band of the original pajama pants was constructed from  this tiny red check material.  And to put the icing on the cake, there was a strip of seam binding that said "OLD NAVY".  This would be so darling on the reverse side of the halter. I had to spend some time with my seam ripper to deconstruct the waist band, but I think it was worth the time. There was a drawstring at the waist on the original pants that I used for the straps.  "Waist" not , want not when making doll clothes.

                 In this picture you can see that an elastic waist was used on the pajama pants.

                   The pajama pants and halter top fit the American Girl doll.  I had to roll up the pant legs in order to fit on this  14 inch baby doll. The halter top has a Velcro  closure in the back for a good fit. 

       
          Can you believe that I had plenty of material left over to make a gathered skirt to add to the outfit.  Now our little doll friends can go from pajamas to a skirt and halter top ready for a garden party or a 4th of July parade and picnic.

                    I'm glad to see that those old pajama pants will have many more years of wear for many years to come.

Happy sewing!

Beti

Baby doll sleepers

   Baby Doll Sleepers

            I had a request for a sleeper for a 10 or 14 inch baby doll from my granddaughters.  So I had to get to work. An Old long sleeve T-shirt would be  the perfect material for an experimental design.  The pattern was laid out on the long sleeves of the T-Shirt.  If you look at the legs of the sleeper, you can see the band that would have been the end of the sleeve.  The stretch of the fabric is very forgiving, so a young child can dress and undress the doll with no problem.

           A little applique was stitched on the front along with Velcro closures along the center front. 

                 This sleeper was made from the same pattern.  The legs were lengthened and rounded at the bottom to make an enclosed foot.  A zipper was added instead of Velcro. 

                 An old soccer jersey was used for this sleeper.    The pattern was positioned on the shirt front to make use of the team emblem,
 "Ladywood Blazers".  The back of the sleeper was positioned in the fabric in order to make use of the player number.  There is a #2 on the back of the sleeper.  This just makes the doll clothes a little more special for the child as well as the parent who wore the jersey years before in school.

             This sleeper was made from a cute flannel print that includes mermaids, fish, starfish, octopus, and lots of bubbles.  It is very soft and cozy for a child to snuggle up with their doll at bedtime.

         Around the neck there is a small stand up neckline.  This was made from a 1 1/2 inch wide strip of material cut for an old white T-shirt.  The T-shirt material makes great bias tape for necklines and arm holes on doll clothes. It is very forgiving when sewing on a curve.  Velcro closure pieces were sewn on the front opening to make dressing a baby doll easy form a young child.
       

                      The legs of the sleeper can be left long or shortened depending on  the height of the doll.

             This sleeper was made sleeveless for a slightly different look.   The same white T-shirt material was used to trim the neck and sleeve openings. The T-shirt material is very easy to work with and adaptable to the curved edges. To finish the design, a little white heart button was sewn just below the white neck band.

   
           A slightly different style has more of a scoop neckline with no side seams. Instead of cutting two front and two back pattern pieces, the pattern pieces were laid out with the side seam on the fold.  The opening is in the back with a Velcro closure.

           As you can see the pattern will fit a Cabbage Patch doll but you might need to enlarged slightly in the body and leg width and length . The Cabbage Patch dolls have chubbier legs and arms than a regular baby doll.

                 Here is the pattern I came up with for the sleeper. I used a 1 inch grid to show the size of the pattern pieces.  The first picture has the legs extended and rounded to make an enclosed footed sleeper.   I used the same pattern for the front and the back of the sleeper with a few changes.

 1. The front neckline is lower than the back neckline. 
 2. The center front seam is extended about 1/2 inch front the center back seam       to allow for the front closure.        
 3. The pattern can be altered at the leg bottom  to have an enclosed foot               or open leg bottom.

             The sleeve is quite standard and  can be shorten or lengthened to desired length.

               I hope my simple patterns can be followed, and you can make some cute sleepers and other outfits for some little baby dolls.  My hope is to make some children very happy in their play.

           Please feel free to send me a comment. I would enjoy hearing from you.
Beti 

Amigurumi

Teeny Crochet

Animals!

       My daugther gave me a crochet kit for Mother's Day.  It came with a book with 12 project patterns, yarn, a crochet hook, stuffing, floss, and a needle. She knows me so well. teeny tiny animal crochet  is the book by Kristen Rask. This book and it gave me a reall good start making Amigurumi.  I really enjoy making little items from yarn, felt, and stuffing. This was the perfect gift.

               This little guy is about only about 3 1/2 inches tall.

               My koala bear is about 5 inches tall with fluffy ears.

I

              Here is my little bear and the example in the pattern book.

      These little animals fit perfectly in a little child's hand.  So soft a with a friendly face become fast friends with your child.

            These two little whales are about 2 1/2 inches long and an inch and a half tall and so easy to make. they each have a cute little tail fin and tiny side fins.
You start with the gray yarn and then switch to white to complete his bell.

         Aren't these two bunny friends so cute?  I couldn't resist making the pink bunny after the brown bunny was finished.

     This little fellow has a tiny white stitch in the black portion for a little sparkle in his eye.

                             Here is a trio of puzzled pandas.

                   Chicks and ducks are having a friendly get together!

                                                         Meow! Meow! Meow!

      If you enjoy crochet, you will find making these small friends a fun project. Basic crochet stitches are all that is needed using a 4mm crochet hook. Included in the kit were black plastic safety eyes.  I chose not to use the safety eyes. Instead, I used black embroidery floss to stitch on the eyes just to be sure the eyes could not come off and become a choking hazzard.

       Enjoy your day!

Beti