Placemat Tutorial

Summer is here and for many people, that means spending more time outside, eating on the patio or picnicking! I wanted to brighten up the patio table a little this summer, but I didn’t have time for a big project, so I decided to make some simple placemats. :)

This project can be completed in a few hours and could easily be adapted to use your fabric scraps. There’s a tutorial below to make four placemats - have fun!

Materials needed to make four placemats:

• 1 yard of fabric A (makes four placemat tops)

• 1 yard of fabric B (makes four placemat backs)

• 4 rectangles of quilt batting each 14" x 19" (1 yard if you have it in yardage)

• thread, scissors, a point turner, and other basic sewing materials

Steps:

1.         Cut out four rectangles of fabric A: 14" x 19" as well as four rectangles of fabric B: 14" x 19".

2.          Cut out four rectangles of quilt batting, each 14" x 19".

3.          Stack the fabrics and quilt batting together, starting with the batting on the bottom, then Fabric A (right side facing) in the middle, and finishing with Fabric B (wrong side facing).

 4.           Secure in place the fabric and batting, then sew all three layers together along the four edges, leaving an opening of at least 3" along one of the long edges; use a 3/8" seam allowance. *

* The opening should be large enough for you to reach inside and pull the fabric through to the outside.

5.           Trim off the four corners and trim along seam allowance if desired.

6.           Turn the project inside out through the opening.

7.           Make sure to fully push out the four corners, using a point turner, for example.

8.           Press seams open on the outside of the placemat using your thumb or a seam creaser.

9.           Sew the opening closed, either by hand (for example, with a whip stitch or slip stitch) or by machine (for example, with an edge stitch).

10.        Top stitch all around 1" from the edge, and then a second time 2" from the edge.

11.         Finish the quilting as you like; we’ve finished our samples by machine quilting a vertical line every 3" inside the top stitching.

12.        Set the table, you’ve finished your placemat!

Our samples were made using fabric from the Retro Kitchen collection by Michael Miller Fabrics, which you can find in our on-line shop.