Tag Archives: diy place mat

Easter Place Mats

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Spring is right around the corner!  And that means that Easter will be here before you know it.  Time to change out the St. Patrick’s Day decorations & replace them with all of the pastels of Easter.

There were so many beautiful fabrics to choose from this year.  I spent more time in Joanne Fabrics than I should have, but I finally found a theme for this year.  Easter Eggs!  And the fabric that I found had so many lovely colors in it.  I checked the color sample area of the fabric & really had to debate on which color I wanted to go with this year. 

Since I live in a household full of men, I don’t use my favorite color very often.  (not exactly a ‘manly’ color)  But, I just had to go with Lilac for my tablescape.  I couldn’t resist it.

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How to Make an Elongated Oval Placemat Pattern

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DIY Place Mat Pattern

I really like dressing the table, whether it’s for a holiday or for every day.  For some reason, it always seems to make the room look more pulled together.  I love what a clean table cloth & place mats can do for the room.  But I can never find what I want. The colors are either off or the place mats looked ‘store bought’.  A trip to a fabric store can spark your imagination & you can usually find exactly what goes with your decor.  That’s how I started making my own place mats.  But I get bored very easily.  I like to change things up.  Making my own place mat patterns gives me a broader outlet to make my home, ‘my own’.  You can make unique items for your home too!

Here’s what you’ll need:

brown craft paper (a quick tip:  I use a pony tail elastic to hold the roll instead of a rubber band.  It seems to last longer & doesn’t mark the paper) 

ruler

plate

marker

scissors

I got out the brown craft paper & put a dinner plate on it to judge the amount of paper I’d need.

Use a plate to judge the amount of paper needed

For mine, I needed about 15″.  I measured 15″ across the bottom of the roll of paper, making marks to make sure it would be straight.  After I marked the paper, I cut the paper across at the marks.

               

Then I folded the paper into quarters, to mark the center of the paper. Open the paper up. The center point where the folds cross.

                       

Next you’ll have to judge the width that you’ll need for the place mat. I put the dinner plate on the center fold & added the knife & spoon to the paper.  I needed about 10 1/2″ from the center.  So my pattern had to be 21″ wide by 15″ high.

Cut off excess paper after you’ve found your ideal size.  Push the plate to the far right side of the paper.  Draw around the outside of the plate at the fold.

Sketch in a curve from the line you’ve just made to the center bottom of the paper.  You’ll do this free-hand.  As you can see, it took me several times to find a curve that I liked.

Fold the paper in half, from top to bottom, with the line that you just made on top.  Cut out the curve along the line.  (first half made)

Open the paper back up.  The curve is made for the right side of the pattern.

Fold the paper in half, side to side.  Draw around the curve to mark the cutting line for the left side of the pattern.

Cut along the line you’ve just made.  And you’re done!  You now have an elongated oval place mat pattern. This pattern gives a completely different look to your table, and I think you’ll like it.

 

 

St. Patrick’s Day Reversible Placemats

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I don’t know of a better way to add color to a tablescape than by using placemats.  I usually make my own because I can customize them to my tastes and they are almost always less expensive than store bought.  Another reason that I like making reversible placemats is because it takes less room to store them. (store 4 instead of 8)  It’s hard enough to organize your home as it is, especially when you don’t have that much room to begin with.

St. Patrick's Day Reversible Placemat

For this one I used the Oval Placemat Pattern from a previous post.

What you’ll need:

1 yard of patterned fabric

1 yard of solid fabric (I used costume satin.  It’s easily washed & has intense color)

Matching thread

Sewing machine

Straight pins 

Ribbon (optional) (I used 1 roll of 9′ long)

Pin the pattern to your fabric & cut 4 of the placemats from the patterned fabric & 4 from the solid fabric.

               

To mark the placement for the ribbon, I folded the pattern piece in half. Then I laid the pattern on the cut placemat piece & used the bottom of the fold as a guide.  (I chose this because the ribbon was printed with words. I wanted to be able to read it through the plates)  Pin the ribbon in place.

Sew the ribbon to the solid placemat fabric, stitching close to the edges.

Sew the ribbon to all of the solid placemat pieces.

Place 1 solid placemat piece on top of 1 patterned piece, right sides together.  Pin in place, leaving an opening for turning.  Repeat for all 4.

A little trick that I learned a long time ago, is to use 2 pins to mark the place where I want to begin sewing & where to end sewing.  You need to leave a space opened to be able to fit your hand inside to turn the placemats to the right side.  There’s nothing more frustrating than to sew an item, only to realize that you’ve forgotten to leave an open space to turn it. It’s such a waste of time to have to rip out stitches.

Sew all the way around the placemats, starting at one ‘different colored pin’ & finishing at the other pin.   (to leave the opening)  I usually sew about 1/4″ from the edge.  Turn the placemat, right side out.  Pin the opening closed.  Top stitch around the placemat, using matching color thread.  Top stitching the placemat closes the opening & keeps the edges of the placemat crisp.  Press lightly.

Finished St. Patrick's Day Placemats

Use the fabrics that speak to you.  These are for your home.  Customizing your placemats is easy.  Make them your own & have fun with this.

Valentine’s Day Place Setting

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I love to decorate for the holidays. Especially the dinner table.  Making the items makes it unique.  I’ll show you how to do it too!

A diy place setting

Items you will need:

1 yard of patterned fabric

1 yard of solid colored fabric

1 spool of ribbon (my spool was 7/8″ wide by 9 feet long)

measuring tape

sewing machine  & thread & pins

scissors

brown craft/packing paper (to make the pattern)

I start all of my patterns using brown craft/packing paper.  It’s better to make a mistake on paper than on your fabric.

starting your pattern

Measure 17 1/2″ by 12″.  That’s the size that works for me, but you can adjust it to fit your needs.

Then measure 2″ from the corners and mark.  Draw a line to connect the marks.

Repeat on all 4 corners.  Cut off the triangle pieces that were your corners.

I used 2 yards of fabric for 4 place mats. One yard of patterned fabric & one yard of solid fabric.

Cut out 4 place mats from the patterned fabric:

Cut out 4 place mats from the solid colored fabric:

Add some decorative ribbon to the solid side of the place mat piece:

To get an idea of where I wanted the ribbon placement, I laid the silverware out on it:

Then I added 1/4″ inward form the side to allow for the seam allowance. Mine was 4 1/2″ in from both sides.

Pin the ribbon in place & sew in place.

After sewing the ribbon in place on all 4 place mat pieces, pin the right side (good side) of the solid fabric to the right side (good side) of the patterned fabric together.

Stitch around the place mat pieces, leaving an opening large enough to insert your hand to turn the place mat right side out.

Turn place mat right side out.  Press & pin the opening (that you left opened to turn).  Top stitch about 1/4″ all the way around. That will keep the edges crisp & the opening closed. Clip your threads off.  It’s now ready to use!

That’s all there is to it!  Have fun & choose the fabric that will match your decor.