A chance to let 62 kids handle and work with fabric? Thereby infecting them all with appreciation of quilts and the satisfaction of making something impressive for their parents? And get paid for it? Am I the only one who would jump on this idea?

Zigzag the edges. Forget the pocket, most parents inhale coffee or soft drinks. Let the wee darlings explain what its for. Have fun, you lucky dog.

I would cut strips of backing and batting a ittsy bittsy wider than the rugs. Pin or use adhesive to secure the rugs onto the strips and do a continuous zigzag or serging. Do the other side. Cut apart and chain feed them through the zigzag process. Crank your zigzag down to almost a satin stitch or what your machine is comfortable with. I did twenty five postcards this way in an hour and the quilting group was so amazed. Uh, you did ask for suggestions, not opinions?

Let the kids do them, make them from their pic. they color or use colored construction paper, with a small piece of lightweight cardboard then laminate them. You could still include the poem about what they are for, and add a tea bag in the gift pkg. I'm a retired 1st grade teacher and I always had my students make their own Mother's Day gifts and Christmas gifts. They may be strange looking or perhaps a little crude to some, but I always loved whatever my own two children made and gave me, whether from school or Sunday School at Church. They meant so much because my children did them, and I still have many of their gifts and cards, youngest is 37 and oldest is 40 now. Children like to do their own things and are always so proud of what they do. Each one would always think theirs looked the best in the class. Just a suggestion. You could supervise, but let the children do the work. They may be too young to get into the sewing, but they could weave placemats, or the mug rugs with construction paper. When they are laminated, they will hold up for a short time, but the kids will feel like it is truly a gift from them, and not something the teacher did for the mother. Just my opinion.

That sounds about right! :)

let each child put their hand print on a piece of fabric

I love this idea.

As a retired 2nd grade teacher of 31 years, add 10 of being the room mom, just learn to say, "no." The idea is that a Mother's Day gift should be something the kid made. So go with the muslin idea...they can draw on it with markers or crayons (put newsprint over the crayon and iron to set the crayon). OR...go to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Target, Ikea, the $ store and pick up cheap undecorated wooden frames for a buck apiece and let the kid draw of picture of Mom for inside the frame and write with markers "I love you" around the frame. This should be the KID'S work, not YOURS. Your teacher is way out of line to ask you to do such a thing. I know where she's coming from...parents request the teacher that produces nice "gifts" and stuff, but it will end up biting her in the backside. Ask me how I know.

As a mother and now grandmother to seven I can tell you that I treasure the things my little ones made for me. If they were school projects I know that there was an organizer and some needed direction. Though you could probably do 62 all by yourself, why? Let the children do the bulk of it and you just finish up.

FINALLY!!!!! A voice of reason!! Why all the negative and critical talk??? She just asked for ideas!!??!! Keeping it simple and letting the kids decorate them is a wonderful idea!! Have a talk with the principal and let her know they won't be done as nicely as yours but the moms will love them with their children's artistic talents shining forth. Bless you for taking it on! Kids love to get involved and be a part of something like this, even if they don't think so at first! Many a bad attitude has changed through knowing that someone cares about their input.

As a volunteer I do sewing projects for our large church pre-school. I know and appreciate that teachers do lots of "extras" to enhance the children's experiences at school. However, I would not be too happy to learn that school funds had been used to pay someone to make Mother's Day gifts. It would make me question the financial management and other expenditures of the administration.