Teacher Appreciation Idea for small hands and brave mommies!

Okay, so teacher appreciation day is just around the corner and what better way to thank your child's teacher than a handmade gift from your child.

J and I made up this quick and easy tutorial for a machine embroidered framed sampler.

What you will need:

*2 pieces of plain medium weight fabric- we used weaver's cloth

*various colors of thread

* 5x7 inch picture frame

*perhaps some heat n' bond

We used a beige colored fabric, but for our next one we may try using black fabric with metallic threads and a gold frame.  Denim would also be very cool!

First cut your fabric to the desired size- we chose a 5x7 frame.  You can see in the picture that the fabric was longer than 7 inches, but it should be fine to cut it exactly 5 x 7.  Then you don't have to worry about trimming it later.

Next you will need to make sure your fabric is well pressed.  We used two pieces of fabric to provided a bit of stability.  Otherwise the stitches will pucker.  I think that next time we will try ironing some heat n' bond between the layers so it is a bit sturdier.  It will also keep the layers from moving.  

(I'm kind of new to this sewing thing, so it's kind of trial and error.  If you have suggestions, feel free to offer them!)

Now you are ready to personalize the project with your child's teacher's name.  If you are brave enough to let your child use your machine this will be lots of fun for him or her.  J loved doing this!  If you don't have a machine that embroiders, this would also be a fun hand project.

After we put her name on the project I let J pick each of the stitches he wanted to showcase and he put them on the way he wanted them around his teacher's name.  We changed the thread color for each of the different stitches.  By the time we were finished, he was a pro at threading the machine!

This is how it looked when he was all done sewing.

And here is the final, 1st grader, framed project!  Perfect for any teacher's desk!

(Sorry about the poor lighting in this picture!)