School Rocks!

With a goofy grin, Robert, 6, stands next to his birthday tree.

By now, the new school year has started for just about every child in the country.  With Labor Day as the traditional opening day,  our nation’s children have loaded up new book bags, sharpened  new pencils and cracked open spanking new boxes of Crayolas.

It’s a big day, that first day of school.  To commemorate the occasion, my three grandchildren each wore an embroidered shirt as they began the next year in their education journey.

We snapped this picture of Robert  next to his birthday tree, as his birthday almost coincides with the start of school.  He was so pleased to have a “cool” shirt, a real upgrade from his Backyardigans and Max and Ruby shirts of days gone by.

Laurel, 7

Laurel loved the zebra print in her “rocks” shirt.  She especially loved the silver metallic stars.  but Laurel loves everything.  This little girl is the most enthusiastic kid I’ve ever known.  So maybe the shirt is not so special!

Alastair, 2-1/2 just began pre-school and loves it.  His shirt reflects his opinion of this new adventure.  I’m looking forward to his mother sending me a picture of him marching off to “school” in his shirt.

The designs (except for Montessori) are from Embroidery Boutique, a site I discovered after seeing the shirt  made for her 1st grader by Lisa of Mommy’s Apron Strings.  I love the instant download availability of designs from this site and others.

These shirts are a far cry from the first-day-of-school dresses I made for my daughter so many years ago.  I especially remember her kindergarten dress.  A white pinafore smocked with Little Red Riding Hood was worn over a red gingham check yoke dress.    But September is still  soooo hot in Florida. Rebecca looked adorable, but sweltered under 5 yards of skirt while romping on the playground.

The next year, she wore Children’s Corner  Mary Ann,  a white shirt with a blue poplin button-on pleated skirt. The shirt’s insert was smocked with an apple equation, 1 (apple) + 1 (apple) = 2 (apples).   With a bow in her hair and two front teeth missing, she was the quintessential 6-year old school girl.

For pre-school Alastair and  homeschooled Robert and Laurel, these tee shirts are much more suitable for our climate and casual life style.  Still, I would love to make another smocked first-day-of-school dress.  Maybe next year.

Jo made an incredibly adorable penguin back pack for her son. I hope she will give permission to show these photos.

Did you make any special back to school items?  Tell us about it.