I have been working on some fun and easy sewing projects here lately. These four place mats come from some remnant fabric I had with Thanksgiving themes. I am anticipating a new dining room table (in the style of the computer table) in the somewhat near future, so I opted for place mats instead of a table cloth. I love these place mats because they took little time and are fun and whimsical, in other words uneven, no measuring required edges.
I started with two rectangles, the lighter fabric being smaller, and the print larger.
Next, I set my iron to high and began pressing edges. The first thing to do was to fold the printed edge over once and press. Repeat on the other three sides.
Step two was to fold the printed edge over a second time, so that it overlapped the solid fabric. Then press and pin. This creates the edge that will not fray and can be easily sewn. Repeat on the other three sides.
I had a few scraps of fabric left over, and so I decided to make them into accents. I pressed all four edges, as shown above, and then pinned them in place. I used one per place mat with random placement.
The final steps were sewing everything in place. I did not use a specific seam width, as my edges varied in size. However, I did stay along the edge of my printed fabric so that the chance of sewing the two pieces of fabric together were greater. Also, this would give some consistency in the seams, since the size was not dependable.
Four quick seams on my patches and the place mat was done. All in all, this project took maybe two hours – from cutting, to pressing, to sewing.
My four finished place mats are on the table. I made them larger, to accommodate my soon-to-be-larger table. Now I just have to get Eric going on that with all the extra time he is soon to have.
Bluebird Hill Art 