I Heart Chair Covers!

I first came up with the idea for chair covers back at Halloween, when I was probably overwhelmed with laundry or trying to find a moment alone spend quality time with my children and didn't bother to check my e-mail for a couple of days, thereby missing the e-mail about the class party.  For those of you with school age children, you know what I am talking about!  Being the last to acknowledge the group e-mail about the upcoming class party can be disastrous!!  Invariably all the good (easy) items to bring have already been taken and your stuck coming up with a brilliant game idea that 22 kids can play in 10 minutes that doesn't cost a whole bunch (because you're donating it) AND won't be too messy, too sugary or somehow politically incorrect - uugh!   I could have simply ignored the e-mail altogether, but then I might be labelled as a slacker mom and how would this impact Sheep's future education/reputation/opportunity here in small town USA?!?!?!

Let's face it, the stakes are high! 

Needless to say,  I was dismayed  to discover that the only item not taken was decorations.  And have you looked in your child's classroom lately?  It is generally so cluttered with posters, projects and other paraphernalia that it's hard to imagine what kind of 'decorations' would even be noticed!

Once again, Pinterest to the rescue!!

I saw these cute little ghost chair covers from Family Fun and the wheels started turning!  I got so excited about the whole thing, I rushed right up to school, snagged a chair and got to work!  And the square shape of the classroom chair lends itself to all kinds of  fun holiday shapes that aren't possible on a full-sized chair!!!  They were SO STINKIN' CUTE and Sheeps' classmates loved them so much that I knew I'd be doing these again for the other holidays as well!

Like the Halloween chair covers, these sweet little numbers don't cost much $$$ either, because they are made with felt!  So let's get started!

Supplies:

Felt

Pinking shears

Sewing machine or hot glue

Ribbon

Step 1:  Measure your chair.  You will need three measurements:  Width across the back (A), The length from the top of the back to the bottom of the back (B) and the length of the back support (C).

Step 2:  Make your template.  I made mine out of felt. transferring my measurements and drawing a rectangle so you know how wide your heart will need to be.  Once you have your rectangle, you can freehand your heart, leaving a little for seam allowance, though you don't need to leave much because felt doesn't ravel - yay!!

Step 2.5:  Once you have your template, you can use your mad math skills to calculate how many hearts you are making and how much felt you will need!

Step 3:  Cut out your heart on felt that has been doubled so that you have a front and a back.  I used my pinking shears to add some additional visual interest but you don't have to, it's up to you!  Though I must say, the pinked felt looks SO CUTE!

Step 4:  If you want to add any embellishments, now's the time to do it!  Especially if you plan on sewing the chair cover together rather than hot gluing.  I cut a simple XOXO design out of white felt and stitched it on.  You could glue here as well, but I thought stitching might be more durable and once you've made 22 of these, you aren't going to want to be doing this again every year.  Make them to last and you can reuse them yourself (if elementary school is in your future for the next 6 years like it is mine) or give them to your child's teacher - what a great teacher gift!!

Step 5:  Sew (or glue) your hearts together, leaving plenty of room at the sides to get it over the chair back.  You can sew one side down further than the other to keep it as snug as possible, but don't go too far - it's no fun to rip on felt!!

Step 6:  You can simply cut a slit at the bottom to use as a button hole to clasp the two hearts together at the bottom, or you can actually make a button hole like I did - your choice!  With this shape, I think the button hole is important, because kids are wiggly, squirmy and just generally don't sit still - and you don't want them slipping off and becoming a distraction rather than a decoration!

Step 7:  Tack about 18 inches of ribbon to the inside back of your chair cover so that it can be threaded through the button hole and tied in a bow!  A button would look cute too, but I liked the ribbon!

Step 8:  Deliver to your child's classroom and prepare for lots of ooo's and ahhh's!  Mine will hopefully be arriving February 1st so they have two weeks to enjoy them!!

I am also going to do some shaped like envelopes, so I'll be sure to post a pic or two of those as well!  Happy Valentine's Yall!


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