Number cards and counters - control of error

Ever notice that there is no built-in control of error for the Number Cards and Counters material? Well, golly gosh, that sounds like an excuse to use some fabric scraps and whip up something fun and funky for the benefit of my pupils! Here's a quick tutorial for y'all.

1.) Photo copy your sandpaper numbers, 0-9.
2.) Cut out each number.

3.) Pick out ten different fabric scraps. You will only need a little patch of each. Lay them out next to each other and fiddle around with the placement - color contrast and print selection are important.
4.) With your iron, apply fusible webbing, paper side up, to the WRONG side of the fabric. Place the copy of the number on the paper side of the webbing, BACKWARDS. Trace around the number with any pen. Cut out the fabric number and peel off the paper backing.5.) Continue making all the numbers, from 1 to 10. (You will not make a separate zero because it's not used in the exercise.) Arrange them on a piece of muslin or other backing fabric. Iron, following the manufacturer's instructions for the fusible webbing. Your number strip will look something like this:
Feel free to leave the project as is and mount it on some cardboard backing, or find a frame. I chose to embroider the edges around each number in order to provide contrast and texture, and to ensure a strong adhesion of the numbers to the background fabric.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a tutorial for the stem stitch, which I used to embroider the edges of my numbers.

Yay for artsy math! Now you have a work of art to hang near the math shelf, and the children have a way to check their own work!