An another easy sewing tutorial from Karen. We love how simple and practical this project is — it's easy enough for beginners, and experts can whip out a whole batch of these cute placemats for their summer dinner parties.
You probably have most of what you need for this sewing project around the house, or you can order from our fabric & sewing department (cotton fabric would work best for this project). Find batting here, and if you want to use men's handkerchiefs as napkins, we have red and blue handkerchiefs here. Try looking for old jeans at yard sales or thrift stores. Usually the knees wear out before the pockets do!
Materials needed for Summer Placemats:
1/2 yard fabric (I used the same fabric for the front and the back)
cotton batting
thread to match
pocket from an old pair of jeans
Cut two pieces of fabric to slightly larger than the desired size of your placemat. (I cut mine 15"x19").
Cut a piece of cotton batting about 1" large than the fabric
Place the fabric with the right sides together and lay the batting underneath. Pin all three layers and sew around all four sides leaving a 2" opening along the bottom edge.
Clip the corners. Turn right side out. I find that the little wooden kitchen skewers work well for pushing the corners out. A knitting needle or pencil works well also. Press.
Slip stitch (hand stitch) the opening closed.
Topstitch 1/2" around all four sides.
Position the pocket (trimmed of all excess fabric) to the far right side of the placemat. Topstitch in place through all of the layers. I stitched really close to the outside edge of the pocket. I used red thread to sew the placemat and chose to keep this color for the pocket topstitching since it was close to what was on the denim but keep in mind that you may wish to change the top thread in your machine before final placement of the pocket.
A blue rimmed plate and a man’s bandanna style hankie (for the napkin) were the finishing touches to the look but the possibilities are endless.
Click here to read more about Good's Store serving as a fabric store in Lancaster, PA.
Cute and easy project! Thank you!
just love it
Wonderful idea Make a couple , put in a basket and give for wedding gift. A good reason for a date . Would also be cute made from burlap. Thank you