A teacher friend at Whitman and I were discussing how she could cut down on the amount of student supplies stored on tables and around the classroom. I mentioned that when I used to teach 3rd grade, I made chair packs for the backs of the kid’s chairs. I picked up a whole bolt of sturdy fabric for her at SCRAP (only $13 during the member 50% one hour sale in August!). Here’s how to make a set for your classroom:

Measure 18 inch lengths (assuming the fabric is 45″ wide and your chairs are about 16 wide, adjust as necessary). We just made a snip and ripped to make it go quickly!

Gently fold it back onto itself in modifed thirds. You want 2 pockets headed in opposite directions. Pin and stitch.

You could make folded hems but to save time I serged the edges instead (long live the $25 garage sale serger).

The last step is purely optional but since Carla has a pirate theme going on in her classroom, we decided to emblazon them with skulls and crossbones. I made a stamp using adhesive craft foam and a smooth wood block I found at SCRAP for a quarter. We used dark grey acrylic craft paint to load up the stamp.



Now repeat 25 times! They really make her classroom cute and kids like having a personal storage space. My favorite feature is if they cram too much junk in there their chair falls over and it’s the signal to clean it out. 🙂