Thursday, August 25, 2011

Homemade pocket chart!

Yesterday I took on the task of making my first ever pocket chart. I use a pocket chart in my class as the class store, but it's pretty hideous and I really don't like the blockey colors.

First, I started by purchasing .75 meters of this fabric ($2.50) and 1 meter of vinyl ($3).
I ironed about an inch and a half around the edges, and flipped itover a second time, to get a crisp edge without having to do too much sewing:Then, I took the vinyl, and cut out four strips,that were the length of the fabric and about 7 inches tall. When it was all cut, I laid it out on the fabric to eyeball everything (very hard to see!) Next, I cut out some small vinyl pieces to act as little slots to place tags. After everything was cut, I pinned on tape binding to all of the edges.
This is what it looked like once the vinyl pouches were sewn onto the pockets.Sewing the vinyl to the fabric was a bit of a task. It's difficult to sew because the vinyl tends to get caught on the presser foot of the sewing machine. Finally, I ended up pinning paper towel to the top of all of the vinyl, so that it would slide easily. It just took forever, but really made the process so much easier. When I was done the sewing, I just ripped the paper towel out. It came out quite easily.
And, that was really it! I just had to sew, sew, sew, all along the corners and edges until I had pockets (basically wherever you see paper towel in the picture.) I'm really happy with how it turned
This is what it looks like stocked! (there's still some goodies missing from the more "expensive" pockets.. not sure what to put in those, yet!)
The entire thing cost under ten dollars. I will definitely be making more!

8 comments:

  1. wow!!!! this is incredible! good job!! i think you seriously might be the best teacher on ever!

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  2. aww thanks britney!! so nice :)

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  3. I came over here from sew-hip, your pocket chart looks great and your bookshelf looks like it's going to be awesome!
    Next time you're sewing vinyl or something sticky try putting scotch tape on the bottom of your presser foot it makes it glide over the tacky surfaces. Or if you find your sewing a lot invest in a Teflon foot. They're amazing!

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  4. Thanks for the great tip!! I will definitely try the scotch tape - I'm not sure exactly how many I'll be making, so that seems like a great temporary solution. I really appreciate it! :)

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  5. So cool! My classroom needs this :)

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  6. What gauge of vinyl did you use?

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  7. A Tip for sewing vinyl is to put a piece of scotch tape on the bottom of your presser foot :) works for me

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  8. You gave me such a great idea in making a pocket chart for my kid. Thank you so much for sharing! :)

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