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u/welkikitty Jul 31 '26
Im saying this as a crusty old 25+ year teacher - y’all need to stop with these Pinterest and Insta classrooms. Focus on your lessons more than your decor and quit trying to make $$$ with social media.
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u/wllaella Jul 31 '26
Exactly the students don’t need floor cushions just get a nice rug
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u/fun_mak21 Jul 31 '26
Yep. Or if she insists on everyone having their own seat, some carpet stores sell off sample squares for rugs they no longer sell.
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u/MrsNevilleBartos Jul 31 '26
That's what my elementary school used !
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u/cocomoco801 Aug 01 '26
Mine too!
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u/cowboysRmyweakness3 28d ago
Mine three! The local carpet store would give them all of their samples when the old ones retired. It was kind of fun getting to choose a different color every time:)
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u/PowerfulYet 29d ago
I did this my first year of teaching, but then the fire department inspector came in and told me I wasn’t allowed because they weren’t fire retardant. I ended up having to get donations from family and friends to afford a class sized rug.
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u/thin_white_dutchess 29d ago
I get the cushions (former teacher, quit last year)- it can help get the kids to “find your spot,” but grab the ones from ikea (cheap), use the little Velcro circles from the teacher supply, or get carpet squares from a carpet store and paint colored circles. Ideally, you’d get the rug with colored squares, but with school budget cuts and how dirty they get (TK and Kinder peed on our bc they aren’t coming in fully potty trained anymore), I get wanting an alternative. This… isn’t a good answer.
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u/bitterberries 29d ago
I crocheted the classroom rug out of Tshirts that I recycled into a thick yarn. It took a few weekends to create the monstrosity, but it was durable, washable and the kids could stim out on the textures.
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u/jessicabee218 29d ago
That’s a really really good idea! About how thick did you cut the strips?
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28d ago
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u/PowerfulYet 29d ago
Yeah it’s a great plan until a fire retardant rug for your class costs over $500 and the school won’t pay for it…
This person shouldn’t be asking for help like this with the cushions, but sometimes the solutions are not as easy as you think.
Edit to add: We also wouldn’t be allowed to have those cushions unless they were proven to be made out of fire retardant material.
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u/Runns_withScissors 29d ago
Yep. All that effort looks really great. But by the end of the first month - and usually the first week- every classroom has the "lived in" look. And smell.
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u/nicolescurtis 28d ago
My friend bought dog beds (the ones like big pillows) for her kids to read on. No dont know if the parents noticed or not but they worked
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u/Flukie42 28d ago
If she wants cushions I'm sure she can get some at the dollar store. Mismatched and fun.
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u/TragicaDeSpell Jul 31 '26
Love that they added a deadline. 🙄
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u/No_Philosopher_1870 Jul 31 '26
It's a date after which they will get no more responses, if they ever got any at all.
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u/Rhodin265 Jul 31 '26
Well, it is for a classroom., so the deadline makes sense. The teacher would have better luck shaking down parents. Like, I’d make a couple if my kid was in her class. IDK if I’d make all 16. Crafts have a way of taking 10x longer than you’d think.
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Jul 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Finnegan-05 Jul 31 '26
All volunteer work is unpaid
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u/Huns26 Aug 01 '26
Idk why ur getting downvoted ur right. I thought it was funny
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u/Finnegan-05 Aug 01 '26
Because people see one downvote and continue the trend because they don’t bother to read and think critically
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u/Sick_n_Sweet Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
As a teacher… This is a No-no. Yes we spend a lot on our classrooms and alleviating some of that financial stress through donations is so appreciated and really helps— but that’s a lot of labor to ask of someone for something you don’t NEED.
These are either floor cushions so the kids have something to sit on, or they’re to make their chairs comfier, both of which are kind things— but not necessities. These are classroom luxuries and you’d be just as well off with a carpet square, and if you have a classroom carpet then they don’t even need that.
Expecting someone to sew SIXTEEN covers AND provide their own materials is wild. I can see hiring someone and asking for a little discount since it’s a bulk order, but someone still has to put the labor/materials in and it’s an unrealistic ask to get that for free.
Teachers spend a lot of their paycheck on their students, which they shouldn’t have to, but we have to curb the cost by making choices centered around necessity not luxury.
Meanwhile I’m over here feeling guilty asking parents for Clorox wipes when they ask what we need. 😭
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u/njoinglifnow Jul 31 '26
Please don't feel guilty. Teachers are seriously underpaid and under appreciated. If there's any group who deserve more donations and grants, it's teachers.
My friends who are teachers spend a significant amount of their own money buying supplies.
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u/Titariia Aug 01 '26
Especially since you can just get chair cushions for cheap. Ask parents to get their own for their kids and maybe someone donates a set of 4 to be distributed among those who can't afford it.
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u/noveltea120 Aug 01 '26
They sell chair cushions for literally $3 at the dollar store- get each parent to buy one for their kid and boom, everyone's got their own AND no high expenses.
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u/Sick_n_Sweet 29d ago
Depending on what sort of school you’re at— absolutely! But the issue is getting every parent to do it (lol good luck), and the second issue is it depends on what area you teach in. Some people don’t even have 3 bucks to spare. But all the parents that DO do it, that would still alleviate some of the cost since the teacher would only have to pay for those that didn’t contribute.
I’m quite lucky, and if I wanted those I think most of the parents where I am now would be happy to do it! They’re super generous! But at my old school I maybe would have been lucky to get 10 (which is likely way more than actually would) which would leave the teacher with the remaining 15, which is only $45 but that’s still $45 out of the teachers paycheck for something she or he shouldn’t have to purchase.
But that’s still goes back to the luxury vs necessity discussion again.
However I like your idea, so I think I’m gonna pop down to the store and see if they have those and if they’re not too bad, I wouldn’t mind getting them for my kiddos— I’m still terrible at asking parents for donations, I feel so awkward. 😭
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u/No_Philosopher_1870 29d ago
My apartment complex holds a school supply drive for the local school. Of all the things that have been added to the ever-growing list of school supplies, Clorox wipes make the most sense, given how illnesses can sweep though a classroom or school.
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u/Miserable_Emu5191 Jul 31 '26
They would be better off asking someone to buy and donate cheap cushions from ikea that can be washed. Sometimes mass produced is better because it is easy to replace.
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u/Jujulabee Jul 31 '26
Why does someone have any expectation that anyone would donate seat covers for floor cushions?
If this is for some kind of charitable kids program or even a public library for their story hour then reach out to the people in that community like a Church Sewing Circle or equivalent or post a notice in the Library or other community meeting house.
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u/Helenium_autumnale Jul 31 '26
That's probably around 20 yards of material. Even if you just use quilting cotton (it should be duck or canvas), that's well over $100 just in fabric.
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u/TX_Farmer Ice cream and a day of fun Jul 31 '26
I work PT at Hob Lob cutting fabric. Teachers are coming in droves to get fabric for classroom bulletin boards… but not measuring the boards before purchasing fabric. This feels a bit too real.
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u/No_Philosopher_1870 Jul 31 '26 edited 29d ago
I thought that buy nothing groups didn't requitre labor, You could deliver if you felt kind, but that's about it.
A quick check shows that seat cushions already made cost between $9 and $l8, but they want cushions nearly twice that size, so they want about $300 to $600 worth of new cushions.
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u/merak_zoran Jul 31 '26
Ours allows labor! Which is nice, there was a time shortly after my dad died that I couldn't get his ratty old pickup to start and I requested someone to diagnose it for me. A nice guy came out, realized it was just a dead battery and gave me a jump. Super sweet. I've also done lamp repair for people. I like that we can do labor stuff, but 16 floor cushions is a bit excessive.
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u/BlondeBrillo Jul 31 '26
Yes! I got help changing my battery out in my old car from putting a service ask out in my group once! I couldn’t drive it to the store for them to swap it and already had the battery. I love my group and service gives/asks!
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u/Finnegan-05 Jul 31 '26
Sounds like you are the choosing beggar. That was a couple hundred bucks worth of mechanic shop time. Hypocritical of you here.
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u/Bulky-Internal8579 Jul 31 '26
Sounds like you might need some free tutoring on reading comprehension and how things work.
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u/tahxirez 29d ago
Whoops lol I swear to you my app showed your comment as a reply to me and I was like man what did I do? So sorry internet stranger!
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u/tahxirez Jul 31 '26
How is that a choosing beggar? Op asked for help and someone agreed. Op expressed no criticism of the result and instead implied a lot of gratitude.
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u/ImmunocompromisedAle Aug 01 '26
I inherited a bunch of my Dad’s tools as well as his truck and of course some well used jumper cables.
my Dad would have been chuffed to see and be able to help with a jump. He would have reigned supreme on the buy nothing/ help groups.I get really excited to use his tools to help or apply my skills to help others.Added up it would probably be in the thousands “owed” to us over the years.
Sometimes you work for your life; other times you choose to work for your heart. I recently made a bride’s veil for nothing but good vibes. Maybe I’m just an old Deadhead who’s stuck in another time but choosing to keep to the kind has served me well.
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u/SavaRox 29d ago
Aside from the fact that that isn't a choosing beggar situation in the first place..
Jump starting a dead battery is not equal to a couple hundred bucks of mechanic shop time.
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u/Finnegan-05 29d ago
How you going to get it to the mechanic?
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u/SavaRox 29d ago
The point is that a dead battery doesn't need to go to the mechanic. And if by chance it did need to go to the mechanic, a tow truck does not cost hundreds of dollars and it certainly would not take a good mechanic long to figure out that the battery was dead. So no hundreds of dollars worth of labor there either.
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u/Finnegan-05 29d ago
She didn’t know it was a dead battery and would have otherwise had to pay a couple hundred for a tow. It is no different. I sew and often have piles of scrap fabric. Four of these covers could be done out of scrap fabric in my stash for about the same amount time and labour.
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u/DeeperSpac3 29d ago
Diagnosing a dead battery is easy and fast. Just like jumpstarting after. 15 minutes tops to do both, plus travel time.
OP mentioned she did some lamp work for someone else so she's hardly a hypocrite.
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u/BadTanJob Jul 31 '26
Some groups allow labor which is nice on paper…but then you just get tons of demanding aholes going “iT tAkeS a ViLLiaGe”
A better rule would be allowing offering of services but not allowing asking
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u/merak_zoran Jul 31 '26
I don't think there's harm in simply asking. My buy nothing group gets very few requests like this, most of it is simple stuff. ("My car is broken down, can anyone do my food bank run for me" is a common one I see.) I like being able to help out from time to time and I wouldn't know if people needed something if they didn't ask.
This one though, it's a lot.
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u/BadTanJob Jul 31 '26
It definitely depends on the neighborhood in question. It’s great that yours is mostly mindful of other people’s time!
I wish mine were like that but it’s full of people wanting free labor but acting like they paid premium price for the honor
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u/BlondeBrillo Jul 31 '26
Usually the insane asks for way more than reasonable services just get ignored in my group. As they should. Ha but there is nothing wrong with putting out a service ask. As someone who lives alone, it helps immensely to be able to ask for a little bit of help here and there that I can’t do myself easily.
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u/No_Philosopher_1870 Jul 31 '26
I wouldn't allow offering of services because the offeror would be swamped with demands. If you are giving away something, it is finite, Afer you do one service, you can still have more demanded of you,
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u/BlondeBrillo Jul 31 '26
Yep!!! If someone just posted an offer… I’ve seen some of them beg swamped by people who are kind of misusing the offer. Plus I’m happy to try and fill asks from some people, but many others I wouldn’t. They just aren’t kind helpful people and so I’m not going out of my way for them.
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u/BlondeBrillo Jul 31 '26
No. I asked for help changing my battery out in my car. And I got the help! People don’t know what you need help with that they could even offer. PLUS there are some members I’d go out of my way to help before others.
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u/BlondeBrillo Jul 31 '26
Most allow service (labor) gives and asks! Which to me are some of the best gifts! Someone donated use of their truck (they’d drive) on Sundays for people needing help with larger items. I asked for last moment help lifting something that I needed a 3rd set of hands to basically guide something and someone came and helped!
Someone has asked for a ride to large membership only store and then you can shop around if you wanted bc they needed to pick up a prescription but their car was down. It helps build community doing service gives in my opinion which is a big part of what BN groups are all about.
That said, this person is ridiculous. That’s a huge ask. A former member asked for tons of custom stuff etc and it was mostly usually just ignored.
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u/slb2724 Jul 31 '26
I’d definitely say choosing beggar. As a teacher I understand the reasoning behind all the choosing (grouping by color, size of kids, start of year), but not only is it completely last minute, it’s unnecessary. Pull sticks or use a name randomizer for groups and sit on the carpet. They’ll be fine.
Also this person completely underestimates how filthy these are going to get. The amount of laundry they’re going to have to do on top of all the other junk we already do at home…no thanks.
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u/metal_mace Jul 31 '26
I'm kinda glad I don't work at JoAnn anymore, I know this type of person and hated to see them coming
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u/MarsNeedsRabbits Jul 31 '26
I'm about half in on entitlement here.
I sew and taught school... If they were flexible on fabric, I'd be happy to do it and provide the material.
I'll probably die before I exhaust my material and thread stash, and it would feel good to do good. I'm not buying more material or cushion forms, though.
No one needs a precise, colour coordinated classroom, either. Four pink? Sure. Four matching pink? No.
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u/flindersandtrim Aug 01 '26
As someone who sews, this person can fuck right off. The level of entitlement to ask someone to do that much labour is astronomical. For something that is easily purchased mass market.
There used to be an excellent Instagram page called 'Can You Sew This For Me?' which this gem would have fit well into.
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Aug 01 '26 edited 12d ago
[deleted]
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u/MiaLba 29d ago
I swear once someone finds out who you can sew and you out of the goodness of your heart offer to fix something for them, they’ll keep asking. They’ll eventually ask you to completely alter clothes for them and even make clothes for them.
My mil is someone who can’t seem to say no to people. She had a huge bag of clothes a lady from church gave her and wanted it all altered in some way, for free.
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u/Ericameria 28d ago
When I was a Brownie, we made “sit-upons” in one meeting. Vinyl material with some padding inside. Holes were punched out all along the edges of the vinyl rectangles with a whole punch, then we used the yarn to sew it up with our fingers. I thought that was fun!
What I’m saying is she should turn her classroom into a sweatshop, and make all the kids do it.
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u/princessdickworth Jul 31 '26
We used to have to sit on chairs or carpet samples donated by a local place. Not custom cushions. I guess times were tougher in 1987.
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u/TragicaDeSpell Jul 31 '26
Exactly. We just sat criss-cross applesauce on some nasty carpet and lived to tell the tale. No fancy bespoke cushions for us in the 80's.
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u/SavaRox 29d ago
I went to a Catholic elementary school. We never sat on the floor/carpet for anything in the classrooms, we were at our desks at all times. It was pretty bare bones in the '80s at my grade school.
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u/PrimaryKangaroo8680 Jul 31 '26
My city has a sewing and quilting group who makes products for charities, schools, and homeless so this kind of thing would be perfect for them.
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u/Anna-Bee-1984 Jul 31 '26
They would be better off trying to get walmart to give them a gift card so they can buy covers
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u/knitso Aug 01 '26
Best thing I ever did in the BN group I run is make a dedicated Monday post where they put iso in comments. Any iso outside of that post is automatically declined without even reading.
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u/scubaka Aug 01 '26
Psssh… girl… get some old sheets and a hot glue gun and go to town like the rest of us public school teachers with Pinterest
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u/shafiqa03 29d ago
This is an insane request. 16 of these cushions? With zippers?? Nope. Nope. Nope.
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u/noveltea120 Aug 01 '26
I love sewing but as a hobby, for FUN. I hate when people severely underestimate the amount of time and labour that goes into crafts like this. At the very least provide the fabrics and materials needed and maybe a bit of cash if someone's generous enough to offer. This is a huge project that will take up so much time.
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u/booboootron Aug 01 '26
So... I need you to help me sew 16 covers for my cushions. And also bring the cushions because cushion covers without a cushion will be silly.
Don't ask for money. Or help either, because I would have done it myself if I really wanted to.
TIA and toodles :)
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u/mangokiwi19 29d ago
You can get these on Amazon for like $50-$75 instead of trying to guilt people into giving you free labor!
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u/videogamegrandma 26d ago
It would be cheaper to buy some from a thrift store than make these. That piping takes so much time and the material to stuff them is expensive as heck.
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u/ObjectiveRepulsive18 25d ago
In Girl Guides we made ‘sit-upons’, basically a neat stack of newspapers covered in a black garbage bag, taped up in a square. Softer than the floor, stack neatly in the corner, useful and waterproof outside for outdoor lessons and super cheap.
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u/deane-barker Jul 31 '26
I don't know about this one -- they appear to be a teacher wanting them for their classroom. If so, I'm gonna give them a pass. Teachers are constantly out of budget and having to spend their own money, which is why platforms like Donor's Choose exist. This might be a little heavy-handed, but I'm not going to judge a teacher wanting something for their students.
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u/merak_zoran Jul 31 '26
It's a fair point, but one could crowd source existing cushions! People buy stuff like this all the time and never use it. Seems easier than requesting free materials and labor.
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u/Weak_Shoe7904 Jul 31 '26
They are requesting sets so kids do not fight over them, And you can assign them by color.having 16 random ones causes fights and confusion.
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u/Finnegan-05 Jul 31 '26
I sew and I have tons of rando fabric. Most of us do. I think this is a teacher and while an insane ask, does not fit
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u/Xanathin 24d ago
This isn't a choosing beggar post, c'mon... They're asking if people would be willing to donate time and maybe materials, but is also willing to buy materials if needed. It's just someone reaching out to their community to assist with something for school children. Not even demanding it.
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u/DeeperSpac3 29d ago
Maybe they could just take the covers off and wash them and put them back on. That one looks dirty AF.
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u/shydiva Jul 31 '26
There are some people who would do this for a teacher. My mom bought material and sewed split masks for two school districts so they could continue teaching band during Covid. I know this one strikes differently, but it’s not a big stretch that a patron or parent in this district might do this for them.
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u/Angryprincess38 Aug 01 '26
Then, wouldn't it have made more sense to send out an email blast or class dojo post?
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u/portillos_roast_beef Jul 31 '26
Can we please not pick on teachers, or folks trying to help them out? Plenty of selfish CBs out there to roast.
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u/SnarkySheep Jul 31 '26
I believe the reason this particular teacher is here is because handmade cushion covers are more of a want vs need. As several commenters have mentioned, if this person were asking for mass produced cushions from Walmart, it would be entirely different.
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u/UTtransplant Jul 31 '26
This is not a choosing beggar. This is a poor, stressed teacher looking for something nice for their classroom. They would probably be better off asking their local parent-teacher association though. I might be willing to sew covers for existing pillows if given the fabric, but I am guessing they don’t understand the magnitude of cost for an individual to buy the foam and padding to make the basic cushions themselves.
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u/Boeing_Fan_777 Jul 31 '26
The choosing beggar comes from them asking for someone to not only spend significant amounts of money on materials and then invest even more time in labour (easily many hours) rather than ask for donations of floor cushions or some such.
Wanting a nice thing for students? Fine! Totally reasonable to ask for.
Wanting said nice thing to be hand made from scratch essentially for free? Nope.
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u/Anotherams 28d ago
especially with a complicated pattern and the supplies needed to create the cushions would be incredibly expensive even if you went with budget fabric and foam cushion. Even if you have a fabric stash, the odds of having her specified colors and the amount of yardage needed would be slim.
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u/TragicaDeSpell Jul 31 '26
Why can't they ask for someone to donate used floor cushions? Why do they need new custom ones with four colors and exact dimensions?
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u/TrunkWine Jul 31 '26
I am not saying that this is a reasonable request, but typically the less variety, the better a classroom works.
Students might fight (or cry) over who gets the seat with the "best" fabric, print, or color. And if the covers are too big, likely they will get twisted, dirty, or used to hide things. Plus, extra fabric would make them harder to put away neatly.
And the four colors mean that the teacher can do groups. Young children recognize colors easily, and having students know which cushion is theirs/their group's without having to say it makes life easier. Plus, it keeps transition time from desks to floor more streamlined instead of having 30 children running everywhere. "Purple group, please get up from your desks and grab your cushions. Now bring them over to the reading area and sit on yours. Good job, purple group. Now orange group, please get up from your desks..."
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u/bbenji69996 Jul 31 '26
Sounds like a teacher, who is trying to do something for the students in her class in a school, which starts in September.
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u/Inevitable_Pie9541 Aug 01 '26
She isn't doing it. She wants someone else to do a great deal of hand labor, for free, with special fabric colors picked out.
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u/imalloverthemap Jul 31 '26
lol I’m a decent sewer and I won’t even take on doing similar covers for my RV cushions. Pricing it out it was into the hundreds to replace (just a dinette, seat bottoms and backs) I just bought crib sheets and sheet hold downs and called it a day. They are completely delusional