Placemats ~ Make Your Own!

A few weeks back I made some Christmas fabric placemats and coasters for my sister for Christmas and while they’ve been on the side in my sitting room, I’ve been eyeing them enviously. I had some of the stars material left over, so decided to make my own set;

I know I keep saying this, but really, these were really very simple to make.

Materials Needed (for a set of eight)

Backing material (I used a fairly heavyweight cream-coloured fabric)

Main material (I used red and gold stars. On my other set, I used two different red fabrics)

Medium-weight interfacing for the main material (if it’s quite lightweight like mine was. It stops the mat being too floppy).

fabric scissors

matching threads

iron

card for templates

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1. Measure and cut out your mat and coasters templates. Each of my placemats is about 36cm x 26cm, and my coasters are a 9.5cm square.
2. Using the templates, and, leaving a generous 1cm seam around, cut out the fabric pieces (both main and backing).  
3. Using the templates, but not leaving any seam, cut out the interfacing. I like to iron this later, once I’ve turned the placemats, as the material is stiffer once interfacing is ironed on, but you can do it before.
4. Gather your pieces together, and place the backing material and the main fabric right sides together (that is to say, the patterns facing each other). Place your interfacing (with the sticky side down) onto the main fabric and pin in place. I cheated and just pinned in two diagonal corners.
5. Take your template and draw around it on the material. You should probably use a fabric chalk, but I just used a normal pen and marked lightly on the thicker fabric (once I’d made sure it didn’t go through and show on the other side!). I marked the corners and drew a couple of lines as a guide along the side. This is to show you where to sew.
6. Starting beyond half-way and working in the direction of the nearest corner, start stitching the placemats and coasters, leaving a gap (of about 8cm for the placemats and a few cm for the coasters) for turning. Don’t forget to backstitch a couple of times at the start and finish, especially as turning puts quite a strain on the fabric.
7. Trim the corners (so that they are sharp once turned) and turn, using a chopstick to push the corners out.
8. Press (and if you’ve left pressing the interfacing until this stage, make sure it’s flat inside your placemat or coaster before pressing). Be careful when pressing the turning gap so that it lines up with the stitching you’ve already done.
9. Top stitch over for a nice finish and to close the turning gap. I used a matching threads for the two fabrics (so the top thread matches the top fabric and the bobbin thread matches the underneath fabric. Press again for good measure!
10. You’re done! Made By Yours Truly.Now sit back, as ever, with a nice cuppa or a tipple of your choice and admire your handiwork.
    

    Placemat and Coaster