Shapes for Everyone!

Today is the first day of College Football 2013!  Can I get a War Eagle?  At least from some of you, right?   Whoever you cheer for there is one thing for sure...long football games are a perfect time to fit in some quick sewing projects.  And I have just the thing for you:  Raggy Shapes! 

Our Raggy Alphabets and Raggy Numbers have been super popular and now you can continue the education and fun with our brand new Raggy Shapes. 



I was able to stitch all 14 shapes in under an hour and I even had "help" during the process from my five year old! He examined each shape very carefully as soon as it was completed. This is a great set of shapes because there are some familiar shapes that most kids will know (circle, triangle, square) but there are also some more challenging shapes (hexagon, octagon, crescent moon) which is a great teaching opportunity mixed in with fun!



I decided to use solid colors of felt for this set of shapes which you can find for a quarter a sheet or less at most craft stores. You will receive a detailed pdf tutorial complete with photo illustrated step by step instructions.

There is so much you can do with our Raggy Alpha and Shapes...but one of our favorite activities this past week was Hide and Seek Shapes. I did the "hiding" the first time around and tried to keep it simple as they were still getting used to what all of the shapes looked like.



We knew we hid 14 shapes so it was a good counting exercise to make sure we found all 14 hidden shapes. (I must admit...as the games progressed and the level of hiding difficulty increased we didn't always find all 14 right away!) Here is a pic of my boys on the hunt the first time!



My five year old has started hiding by blending the shapes into an object of the same color. Our white pentagon was cleverly set on our white bookshelves but even though it was in plain site it was one of the last ones for me to find because it blended so well. Clever little guy!

And here is one more thought for your raggy shapes. I kept mine simple and plain, but you could also use your editing software to add a smiley face to your shapes or even add the names of the shapes and the numbers of sides to the tough shapes to help with the learning as well.



We are really enjoying our shapes and I am thinking of making sets for my boys' preschool classes too!  How will you make yours?



You can find our Raggy Shapes shapes here. (They are on sale through September 2, 2013.)

Teacher T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U Gift

The school year is coming to a close which means it is time to tell our teachers how much we appreciate them!  I like to involve my boys whenever possible so I decided to modify a cute Christmas card we received last year.  The card said "PEACE" but it was spelled out with 5 pictures of the kids holding the individual letters P-E-A-C-E.  Simple but so cute.

To make our Thank You cards, I started with construction paper and sketched the letters in a bold black marker.  I set the boys up at the table with markers and stickers and told them to decorate the letters however they wanted...  (this was a school morning...they were ready...but I was not...so this was a great "busy" activity while I got my act together!)



Once the letters were done...we went outside to our front porch and I took pictures of the boys holding their letters in front of a neutral background. I loaded them into Picasa (a FREE photo editing software) and did some cropping/straightening/lighting adjustments. The final step was to pick my favorite of each letter and create a collage (also using Picasa). I ordered some 5X7 cards from Walgreens (using a great coupon) and picked them up the next morning.

 

I think they were a big hit...and we just might use them again for my boys' joint birthday party later this summer!

We also gave our teachers new books for their classroom. I thought this would be something that gets used often and I wrote a note inside each book cover so the teachers would remember our kids when they read these books to their classes over the next years...



(in case you are wondering...the books from left to right are We Are in a Book (piggie and elephant...we LOVE these!), Yummy Yucky, Color Book, Put Me in a Zoo (Dr. Suess, of course!)).

The last "thank you" I did was for our preschool Director. She had given me some blank white capes several months ago and mentioned that she "heard" I could sew. Does that happen to any of you??? People find out about your little hobby and you get volunteered? I am not complaining...I was happy to do it...and my boys absolutely loved that I was able to do these for their classrooms. Just a part of the job I guess! :)

Anyhow...I decided to keep them somewhat gender neutral and simple by using our new Lightning Bolt and Star on Circle patches using different color felt. They were quick to sew but turned out really cute...and I hear the classrooms have lots of new superheros these days!



Do you have any teacher thank yous/crafts to share? If so, please link up in our comment section below and share your wonderful work!

How to Add Magnets to Raggy Numbers or Raggy Alphabet

I had so much fun making the Raggy Alphabet and I hope you guys have enjoyed them too!  But what really added to the fun was watching my boys enjoy them!  Because the raggy letters stitch so fast, my oldest sat on a stool and watched me make almost every letter.  I had to finish a few after he went to bed...and he snuck down the stairs 30 minutes after we put him down and wanted to know what letter I was working on.  He was thrilled to wake up to the finished alphabet the next morning. 

I decided to try something a little bit different with the numbers...I added magnets!  There are plenty of ways to go about doing this...but I thought I would share my process.

I first stitched the placement stitch.  You can see the "8" placement stitch in the picture below.  Then I used a little bit of spray adhesive on the back of the magnets.  I wanted to make sure they stayed in place during the stitching process.  Ideally, I wanted to place a magnet at the top and at the bottom of each letter...but I also wanted to make sure the needle had enough room to clear the magnet when stitching...so I sometimes placed the magnet off center in order to have more stitching room.  It is very important that your magnet not come in contact with the needle...so make sure you leave enough room and I would recommend staying close during the stitching process. 



After the magnets were just where I wanted them...with spray adhesive keeping them still...I added the fabric to the top and bottom of the hoop.  Then I started up the machine and kept a very close eye on the process.  When the needle got close to the magnet, the presser foot would raise up on top of the magnet.  The stitching sounded different, but it worked just fine.  As soon as the needle would pass the magnet area, the presser foot would snap back down to be flat on the fabric and would go back to its steady noise that we are all familiar with! 



I should have used flatter magnets...but this it what I had around the house and it worked. 

The numbers have been back and forth in our house...from the fridge to my magnetic office desk to the floor...they are still enjoying them!

Hope you enjoy them too!

Raggy Alphabet

I hope you will love this alphabet set as much as I do...or as much as my boys do!



The letters pictured above are double sided.



When you order this design you will receive a detailed tutorial.



The alphabet may also be stitched as a standard raggy applique letters on shirts or other blank items.



The possibilities are endless with these letters! I stitched out all 26 letters in a couple of hours.



The raggy stitch is quick and efficient.



My boys have had a blast playing with their new alphabet letters.



They have spelled words, put them in order from A-Z, and I find them carrying them around the house and identifying objects that start with that letter.



CUTE, EDUCATIONAL, & FUN!!!



You can find out more about this alphabet by clicking here.

Raggy Number Set COMING SOON!