Beautifying the Snack Table

My friend, Genoveva, the mother of one of my students, just finished making me this incredibly beautiful, hand-appliquéd, snack table set. The characters are native Tarahumara people engaged in traditional games and daily chores, with the exception with this girl, who is wearing a piece of the fabric from which my nawa, or traditional Tarahumara dress, was made. This lady also happens to be holding a kitten, with another fat cat at her side. (Homage to my two masters, says Genoveva.)

Here it is stretched out - I didn't have a child-size table in my house to show the proper set up.
The detail work is unbelievable. The girls even have cute underwear and belly buttons under their big skirts. Of course the pics don't it justice. I don't believe that you can see the beaded necklaces and the detail of their sandals.The set came with four placemats, complete with appliquéd Tarahumara men in traditional costume.
Also, she threw in some hand-embroidered napkins with hand-carved napkin rings. Wow.

We can even add cultural interest and beauty to the environment through the snack table! Anyone else have a pretty set up?

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Definition Stages Pouch

Posted by Karla Norgaard
Email: knorgy(at)earthlink(dot)net

For access to a Word file of Tree Definition Stages and other useful files, sign up for the Yahoo group, "Montessori By Hand," using the purple button on the sidebar. This group will serve as our file archive! Questions? Email Meg at montessorirevolution(at)gmail(dot)com.




This pouch is designed for definition stages material. Each picture
card and definition card is 5 1/2" x 5 1/2"

1. Cut a piece of fabric 20 1/2" x 23 3/4"
2. Fold in half lengthwise with right sides together and pin.
3. Sew a 1/2" seam across the 3 raw edges, leaving a few inches open
on one of the short edges.
4. Trim the corners and turn fabric right side out.
5. Fold the opening under 1/2" and press around all edges.
6. Topstitch around all edges.
7. Fold the bottom long edge up 3 1/2" and press.
8. Make small pocket for labels:
1. Cut a piece of fabric 5" x 2 1/4"
2. Fold in half with right sides together.
3. Sew 1/4" seam on the two longer edges.
4. Trim corners and turn right side out.
5. Turn raw edge under 1/4" in and press.
6. Topstitch all around.
9. Measure 6 3/4" from the right edge of the large pouch and center
the small pouch on the bottom fold of the large pouch.
10. Pin the small pouch in place and sew the side and bottom edges to
form a pocket.
11. Fold up the bottom 3 1/2" and sew both edges.
12. Measure 6 1/4" in from the left edge and place a pin as a marker.
Place two pins: one near the top edge and one near the bottom edge.
13. Measure 6 1/4" from the first pins and place two more pins as
markers.
14. Measure 6 3/4" from the last set of pins and place two more pins.
15. Measure another 3/4" and place pins.
16. Sew seams at each set of markers.
17. Insert picture cards in the left most pocket, the definitions in
the next pocket, the definitions with missing terms in the next
pocket, the term labels in the small pocket, and the definition
strips in the right most pocket.
17. Fold the pouch and mark placement for buttons.
18. Sew buttons.
19. Tie a ribbon on one of the buttons to make a loop large enough to
fit across the other button.

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Cob, cob, cob, cob .....

It's been a little while because I've had my mind (and hands ... and feet) enveloped in mud. Literally. My husband and I are at the critical stage of building a wall on one side of our property. We decided to build it with cob, an adobe-like mixture of clay, earth, sand, and straw. The material is mixed with bare feet on a tarp, adding water and straw until the perfect consistency is reached. Then we pick up a glob of the stuff and slap it on the wall, molding it as we go. The layers are worked together with a long stick ... the weaving of the straw between the layers brings the wall tensile strength much in the same way rebar (the skinny steel bars) does for a concrete building.

Once we start building, we can't let the wall dry or else we won't be able to "weave" together the layers. So, it has taken up most of our waking hours this past week. Fortunately, the weather has been warmer ... dancing in the mud is something to look forward to after work!

We did find that this is a child magnet. Here are some photos of our neighbors helping us out.

They got so excited about cob's possibilities that they started planning to build a club house. Building a cob structure would be incredible for elementary and secondary children. It involves soil testing, simple structural engineering concepts, and lots of group work and planning. And, it's totally doable. My husband and I have never taken a course. We read The Hand Sculpted House, available here, but you could probably find sufficient "how-to's" online. A garden wall is only one thing that you can construct with cob. How about an earthen stove for baking bread outdoors? Or a sculpted bench? Lots of ideas for the elementary child to mill over.

In the meantime, my craft output will be less. Bear with me as we complete this project ... the benefits of such hard work will be a garden that doesn't get eaten by neighboring horses, sheep, goats, and pigs! Also in the works is my own craft studio. I can't wait to share photos of the finished product. It will be great to have a little place reserved for creative endeavors. I can't tell you what a pain it has been to work on the kitchen table. More on this soon.

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Sleeve Protectors

So many ideas to post about after the Centenary celebration in San Francisco this past week! While perusing the historical exhibit at the Discovery Museum, I noticed two sleeve protectors from one of the first Montessori schools in France. Ah hah! A solution to the wet sleeve problem that doesn't require the help of the guide or the assistant! I found some vinyl-coated cotton at Ben Franklin from a company called Moda Fabrics (www.modafabrics.com) and made two apron/sleeve protector sets intended for dish washing and washing the laundry.
Here's Jorge trying them out while washing the dishes. They passed the test run with flying colors.
I couldn't pass up the sock monkey fabric. I also purchased a kit, pattern and socks included, to make the sock monkey. I thought it would be great to display the sock monkey on top of the laundry pile as a sign to the children that someone needs to do the laundry! I'll be posting more on this once the sock monkey and matching fabric-lined basked (for wet laundry before hanging to dry) are completed.

So how are these made? The aprons couldn't be more simple. Fold the fabric right sides together and cut to the following dimensions:
Here's what it looks like unfolded:
Add bias tape of choice. The stuff that I used is older than me - I found it in my mom's sewing supplies! You can also make your own following these instructions. Fold over the edge of the opened binding and line up with the edge of the fabric. Follow these instructions to attach the binding.
Finish the apron by attaching a matching ribbon as a neck tie and as the waist band. Sew velcro to the apron and the waist band for easy closing.

And the sleeve protectors ...

Cut 2 rectangles 8"x13." Fold right sides together and sew a 1/2" seam along the shorter sideFold down one end about 1" and sew, leaving a 2" opening for the elastic. Using a large safety pin, push through about 7" of elastic.

Pin ends together and sew ends of elastic together, leaving 1 1/2" of elastic on the other side of the seam. Trim and topstitch to enclose the opening. This makes the "wrist" end of the sleeve protector. On the other end, follow the same instructions only this time sew the seam on the elastic very close to the raw edges. This will allow for more room for the upper arm. Repeat to make a pair.

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Carrying the Pink Tower

Hola desde San Francisco!!! I've been lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to California for the mathematics refresher course and centenary celebration. I'm still here and still busy, but I couldn't resist passing on this idea ...

Last night we went to the Centenary Exhibit at the Discovery Museum in Marin County. You MUST see this exhibit if it comes to a city near you (see www.montessori-namta.org for a schedule.) One of my favorite parts was the old photo of a little girl walking on the line while carrying the entire, fully constructed, pink tower!

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Stock Photo website

I've been looking to round out my mammal card set for a while. While in training, I purchased 2 of the Audubon Society's pocket field guides to North American (wild) mammals. This is a great resource, but if we are starting with the general and moving on to the specific, shouldn't a mammal set include elephants, domestic cats, cows, monkeys, and, most importantly, humans? Here's a little sample of the free stock photos I downloaded at www.sxc.hu
with this project in mind:

This is a great stock photo site that allows you to search their database by keyword. The photos are free to download. I simply click on the photo to enlarge it, right click to "save as," and choose it's destination on my computer. From here, I can burn a disk or put the photos on my memory stick to print them out at any digital printing station. I print out 2 of each for reading classification cards. They can also be used for matching cards for very young children ... I plan on making sets that are matching by skin/animal, nose and mouth/animal, appendage/animal, mother/baby, etc. And some of the examples:

There are certain card sets that I haven't been able to compile through this site due to lack of photos - musical instruments being one of them. If anyone knows of some other free stock photo sites that might be useful, let me know!

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Reading Classification Card Duvets

I recently added Amy Butler's sewing pattern book "In Stitches" to my craft book collection. What I found inside was well worth the $17 I spent for it at amazon. Pictured below is the photo of the "photo duvet" aka "reading classification card duvets!" The photo duvet pattern is also sold separately here. Here is my version of the set:


These are really great for their purpose - protecting and attractively storing reading classification card sets. Each pouch features a cardboard/matboard square that is hidden within two layers of fabric which are then sewn closed. This serves two purposes - it allows the children to more easily insert the cards after they have finished, and it protects them from the bumps and nicks of daily classroom usage.

One duvet is made following the pattern exactly. The second I modified to hold the labels.

This set was made using 3 Fandex Tree sets, available at Michael Olaf. (Two for the set, and one for my reference.) These are beautiful die-cut photos of 47 tree leaves in North America. The set also shows the bark and the seeds and/or flowers of the tree. Here is one example of the card sets:
I used the font "Chopin," which I downloaded for free from this German site. Click on "search" and type in Chopin. Download the file, extract it from (I believe) zip form, and save it in your Window's font folder. I like this font because it remains pretty true to the sandpaper letters, with a few easily decipherable exceptions.

The cards were then laminated with the best gift I've ever received from my thoughtful husband, the Xyron 900. This machine is a wonder, as it allows you to laminate without having to leave an ugly edge of laminate around the card. The results look super professional. The Xyron has many other functions as well, but I have yet to try them. It's available for about $80 from amazon. You will have buy a two-sided lamination cartridge as well.

As for the nifty leaf fabric, it is one of many I have found at online at Craft Connection. You can search fabric by theme. For any given set of two reading classification card duvets, you will need either a "fat quarter" or half a yard, plus a half yard of coordinating fabric for the "inside" of the duvet.

Materials:
fat quarter or 1/2 yard of theme fabric
1/2 yard coordinating fabric
set of 4 grommets with tool (available at Joann's Fabrics)
1/4 yard of heavyweight fusible interfacing (Joann's)
coordinating thread
scissors
sewing machine
hand sewing needle
iron/ironing board
Amy's pattern
straight pins
matboard or cardboard

Here's my modification for the reading classification control cards and labels duvet:

Cut the coordinating fabric to 5 1/2" x 2 3/4."
Fold all edges in 1/4 inch and iron. Then fold three of the edges over again, another 1/4 of an inch, and fold the right short edge over about 3/4 of an inch. Iron.
Pin to the front panel and topstitch close to the edge around all but the right edge (with the bigger fold.) Continue with the pattern as written.

*Note*
If you are making folders for Audubon field guide cards, make sure you measure the finished control card and label. My guess is that you will have to make the modified duvet about 1 inch longer than Amy's pattern dictates. To do this, simply extend the length of the front and back pattern pieces by an inch when you are cutting them out. Then follow the instructions as before.

To make the label pouch on the front of the duvet for Audubon cards, extend the dimensions of the coordinating fabric to 7" by 2 3/4 " instead of 5 1/2" by 2 1/2."

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