Classroom Decor! Sew what?

Get it? Get it? ;)

Ok. Let's start at the beginning.

Remember when my classroom looked like this? 

Yikes! And that was the day before school was starting too.  Gives me a panic attack just to look at it.

But not really because I know that now it looks sooooo much better.  All those shelves have been reorganized and the whole room redecorated.  I made progress slowly throughout the year and then conquered the rest of it (except for one drawer) at the end of the school year thanks to help from my partner in organization. (Can you tell that's a link when it's just a little lighter gray?  Click to read Bec's post about coming to help me at school!)

In the picture above I circled (and drew a black arrow pointing to) the lower shelves that run along one side of the classroom.  These shelves look much tidier than they used to, but I still thought because of so much open shelving in this room, it would be nice to have those shelves covered.

I've seen other classrooms cover bookshelves with curtains (though actually I haven't seen that in this school, but it's probably because I don't spend anytime in Kindergarten where they tend to do that sort of thing) and I've always thought it looked cute.

At the end of the school year I thought about doing something simple like using plastic tablecloths taped up, but in the end I decided to make it a real project (which will hopefully last longer) and sew some curtains (which sounds impressive) and hang them with velcro (not quite as impressive sounding).

I don't have a sewing machine.  I haven't had good experiences with sewing machines.  Despite these 2 facts, I was determined to make these curtains.  I even had to go back to school after I thought I had left for the summer because I forgot to take measurements.  THAT is dedication.

Ok. So, when at home in Wisconsin, Anna helped me pick out some fabric to use.  We debated about how gender neutral we should go with pattern design, but ended up deciding that as long as it was not hot pink polka dots, the boys would probably just notice that the room felt nice and homey and not that the fabric had flowers on it. 

When we went up to visit my grandparents for the night, my mom and Anna weeded the garden (with the company of many forms of biting bugs) while I stayed inside and began my project (under the close supervision and direction of Grandma). 

How nice right? Just 4 simple steps?

Step 1:  cut the fabric to the right size.

This involved measuring and drawing straight lines and other things that I do not feel are strong skills of mine. I laid all the fabric out on the floor in the guest bedroom and used the ruler to mark spots so I could connect them and draw a line.  What are you supposed to do if the dots won't all connect? I chose to go somewhere in the middle.  

Step 2:  iron the hems.

Since I decided this was going to be a project done correctly, I didn't want to have scraggly threads hanging off my curtains so I hemmed each side of each panel.  In a previous project, I had been taught to use pins to mark where the hem would be, but pins are such a pain.  (Literally! Ha!)  My grandma told me to just iron the fabric and that it would go much quicker.  Unfortunately, this was something I just had to eyeball as I ironed.  I folded the fabric over just a little and ironed and then folded it over a little bit again and ironed over that.  I was advised that this was better than just making one fold. 

Step 3:  sew the hems.

I definitely improved in this area as time went by.  My lines got straighter (sewing machines go really fast!) and things got less bunchy and horrible looking around the corners.  I was even able to solve some dilemmas that arose by referencing the trusty manual.  

Step 4:  attach the sticky velcro and then sew to reinforce.

This step was a nice idea, but after 1 panel the machine couldn't handle anymore.  Unfortunately, after that one panel the whole thing stopped working in general.  All thingies were in the right places with the right strings, but it would only sew holes!

Sorry Grandma!

For now, I'll leave the velcro to fend for itself.  If it starts to come unattached, I'll pull out my needle and thread and sew it by hand.  Haha. Yeah right.  (Anyone have a needle and thread I can borrow?)

I'm SEW excited to hang them up in my room. But not quite so excited that I want to do it right now.  A few weeks will be fine.  :)