With Halloween behind us, a busy holiday schedule is on the horizon for many. And, for many southeast Michigan families, odds are good part of that hectic line-up includes entertaining. From dinner parties to hosting family and friends for an afternoon of play dates, calendars fill up quickly. If you’d like to spruce up your holiday decor, why not start with your table – and the placemats.
I recently stumbled across Craf-Tex’s interfacing placemat sets. If you’re not a sewer and aren’t familiar with interfacing, this material helps give your fabrics some stiffness and support. It’s often used on projects like bag making. These placemats require little sewing – just the bias tape is sewn on to finish the mat. Get your children involved by having them you pick out fabric to create these easy-to-make accessories. |
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Materials
- 1 set of Craf-Tex placemats (check with your local fabric store, like Guildcrafters Quilt Shop in Berkley, Mich.)
- 8 fat quarters (these can be found along the bolt walls at Jo-Ann Fabrics or at local fabric stores)
- 4 packages of extra-wide double fold bias tape
- Iron
- Scissors
- Ironing board or mat
- Pins
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Instructions
1. Start out by pressing your fat quarters. Make sure to get rid of any wrinkles, as this will make it easier to adhere to the interfacing. You’ll be using two fat quarters per placemat. Have fun with the color and pattern selection – perhaps autumn on one side and winter on the other? |
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2. With your pressed fabric, place one fat quarter wrong side up on your ironing board. Position one of the placemats on top. Finish off the “sandwich” by putting another fat quarter right side up on the placemat. With your iron on the hottest setting, start ironing the pieces together, starting in the middle. Work your way out to the sides, moving across the whole piece. Flip and iron the other side. The fabric won’t be completely adhered to the placemat, but that’s OK. You do want a bond, however, so keep ironing until everything feels secure. |
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3. Next, trim the excess fabric from the placemat. If you need to, trace the outline of the placemat with a pencil to aid in cutting. |
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4. Once you’ve trimmed the placemat, it’s time to attach the bias tape. Open the package and start at the top of the placemat. Pin every few inches as you sandwich the bias tape onto the placemat. Go around the entire placemat; when you get back to where you started, overlap the tape by about one inch. Trim off the excess bias tape and save for a later project. |
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5. Either by machine or by hand, sew the tape onto the placemat. A machine makes this a speedy process. Repeat for the remaining three placemats.
6. You’re all set! The interfacing gives the placemat a good foundation. Now it’s time to set the table! |
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