Placemats with Zippered Pocket

 I made this pair of placemats for a prize at our family event. 

I chose a piece of cotton I purchased at the GA fabric sale a couple of weeks ago (pink floral with a black background).  I made that the front.  I chose a piece of black polka dot poly cotton for the back.  

I cut the back and flannel backing 12 " T x 17" W. 

The front I pieced because my cotton was not long enough.  I added a piece of raspberry polyester knit on the left and side of the zipper.  The solid color helps to direct the user to the zippered pocket on the left.  I added raspberry colored tabs on each end of the zipper to fill in the gaps. 

I added two 12" ties on the opposite side which will keep it closed when rolled up.

Once I had pieced my front with the zipper and the raspberry piece I placed right sides together onto the backer and sewed all the way around leaving a gap to turn it right side out.

I ironed it and then did a top stitch all the way around closing the gap I had left. 

I then made 2 seams across the height of the placement. 1 to define the pocket and another just to keep the backer, flannel and cotton together.

The pocket can hold utensils and a napkin, markers, crayons, or other crafty things.

The fabric is completely washable. The color helps to hide the dirt. 

When going on a picnic at a park it gives you a clean place to eat no matter the condition of the table.

Event - Guessing Game - Prizes

I organized an activity for our family event this weekend.  These were the prizes won.  I did some shopping at the thrift store and made a few as well.

Red Stainless Steel Water Bottle

The group was given RSSWB and were asked to guess what the object was.

I loved that it was a Canadian themed bottle.

I managed to find at bag that it would fit in but it will be pretty obvious it is a bottle.  That's okay.

Genuine Gold Gilded Trinket Box

I gave each prize a number so that I could keep them straight in my mind.  I created a key so that I could give the right sequence of letters as the prize was brought out.

Beautiful trinket box with gold gilded bands.

Small, pretty and useful.

Iridescent Heart Handled Coffee Cup

When I was coming up with these prizes I chose items that had lots of adjectives.  The challenge will be to find the noun then they can start guessing appropriate adjectives.

We will see how it goes.

Beautiful glass coffee cup that sparkles every time one drinks from it.

Two Placemats With Zippered Pocket

These placemat are designed for outdoor eating where the eating implements are placed in the zippered pocket.  Gives one a clean place to eat no matter what the table surface looks like.

It is easy for the kids to set the table because the utensils are not loose.  Clean up is a breeze because the used utensils can be returned to the pocket.

When you get home the utensils are washed and the placemats are laundered then they are ready for the next outdoor meal.

Six Square Upcycled Fabric Patches

These patches have been stitched by hand and then machine sewn to a sturdy backer.

I am thinking of adding patches to my slow stitch practice so I decided to see how popular they would be with this crowd.

You can see the yellow sun and the blue bird but they have been blogged separately so you can see them all here.

Blue Plaid Fold Over Card Wallet

I made these for Christmas last year and they did not sell well.  I decided to add one to this collection.

The wallet is lined with RFID fabric inside which protects the cards place inside from being stolen digitally.

It has 2 pockets and can hold about 6 cards.

It has an elastic band to keep it closed.

There is a bit of the fabric attached to help explain the hidden feature.

Grey And Red Curling Rock Mug

I was careful to select some prizes that would appeal to the men in the group.  I have only done this game with women so we will see if there is male participation.

Again, a very Canadian thing.  We have curlers in the group.

I guess it could be used for soup cup as well.

Love it.

One Blue Tote Bag With Pocket

We can always another reusable bag for hauling our stuff around. 

The bag is made from microfiber cloth so wears well and durable.

The stitched art on the front was my first piece done back in 2024.  Nice and bright and makes the bag easily found.

It has a zippered insert.

Sewing Project - Tea Pot Mats

I made up some tea pot mats for my sister as the fabric did not speak to her.  If for sure did to met.

The fabric was square panels of these tea/coffee related images. The panels measured 11.5 inches square with a black border. 

The sandwich is 100% cotton. The panel on the top, then a layer of cotton batting, then a layer of cotton terry cloth and a bottom layer of cotton for the backing.

I used my walking foot to sew this project. With black thread in the machine I topped stitched around the image.  The backing was cut to 14" square to allow a self binding. The backing is black so that worked well with the black border around the image. I used clips to hold it all in place and then made my final top stitching seam all the way around.

For the red one I chose red cotton fabric for the back because I did not have enough black.  It would have been better but we can always have what is best.

On this one I quilted the square on the red with red thread in the machine which I think worked better. 

The self binding was folded once and then folded to encase the sandwich edge and the fold is on the front.  I decided to leave a small line of the black border to add contrast.

Same sandwich as described earlier in this post.

The blue one got black backer fabric as well.

The quilting was done just inside the center panel edge with black thread.

The black backer was brought forward to create a self binding on the mat.

On the corners I folded the sides first then the top and bottom and stitched a square on the corner.  With such small dimensions mitered corner would have been challenging.

Finished size is just a slight bit over the 11.5 inches I started with.

These are headed back to her.

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - QAYG - Red,Yellow and Blue

This is the last one for a while as I have to get ready for contractors on Monday.

The deep floral fabric in this placemat was the inspiration.  It came in the box of free fabric I received back in February.

I chose the main colors in it and added coordinating strips in the quilt as you go method. I used flannel as my foundation layer.

The zipper is upcycled and it had been cut along the way so I was able to make it longer.

I chose black for the zipper insert/pocket as well as the backing.

These ties are about 11 inches long.   These will be donated to Grandma Africa sale in June.

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - QAYG Warm Blues

These placemats are becoming fun to make, now that I have a system.  Here's the collection of warm blues scraps I had.

I did have more patching to do in this placemat.  Some of the scraps were not 12" long so I had to ad bits.  The zipper insert/pocket was great with a turquoise 9" zipper. The back is a light grey cotton poly so I did put grey in by bobbin so that my back seams would blend. The ties are 12" each.

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - QAYG Warm Greens

After a trip out this afternoon, I made another picnic placemat.

This one featuring warm green fabrics.

I was able to get warm green cotton poly fabric at the thrift store so do the back and pocket of this placemat.

This one feels very nice because the backer fabric is heavier. 

It has a full layer of flannel as well.

Wavy stitching again to keep the layers together.

A dark green tie at 12 inches for both.

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - QAYG Blues

Another set of scraps put to good use.

This time I chose all blue fabric. 

I created the navy blue zipper insert/pocket on the right hand side first. 

I chose a piece of grey flannel and chose to make the size of the placemat this time. 12.5 x 17.5 inches.

I sewed on the strips of fabric starting from the right hand side close to where the pocket ended. I continued till I got to the left hand side. 

I created a tie from the polka dot fabric.  The back is a pin striped cotton poly fabric which I cut the size of the front.  I pinned the ties opposite the pocket and sewed all the way around leaving a space open to turn it right sides out.   I trimmed the fabric in the corners, turned it and pressed it nicely.  I put a line of top stitching very close the edge which closed the space I left open earlier.

I chose my wavy decorative stitch to quilt the 2 layers together 3 time across the placemat.

Another done!

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - QAYG Warm Colors

I sorted through my scraps this morning and gathered like colors to see if I had enough to make the front of the picnic placemat. 

I am trying to keep the pocket on the right hand side distinct from the rest of the placemat. I created the zipper pocket like an insert with the brown fabric.

I then cut a 13x13 inch square of flannel to which I sewed the various strips of fabric. 

I chose a beige cotton poly leftover for the back. 

I created ties from the same fabric.

I laid these layers facing right sides together and pinned the ties on the opposite side to the pocket.  I ran a seam all the way around leaving a space to turn it right side out. I top stitched the wavy line to define the pocket then added 2 more similar seams to quilt the 2 layers together.

I am happy with it.

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - Yellow Purple

I started working out my process for making picnic placements with a zipper pocket to hold a napkin and the cutlery. 

I cut the fabric 12 x 18 inches for both the yellow front fabric and the grey back fabric.

I created the pocket like my zipper inserts with the addition of tabs at each end of the zipper so there is no holes for things to fall out.  I inserted the pocket between the 2 layers with rights sides together.  I made some white ties which I placed at the opposite end of the pocket in between the layers.  I then ran a 1/4 inch seam all the way around leaving a space to turn the piece inside out.  

Once turned inside out, I ran a line of decorative wavy stitch to close off the left hand side of the pocket and then added 2 more lines of wavy stitching to hold the layers together.  I added purple tabs to the ends of  the ties to finish off the ends. 

The pocket can hold your cutlery and a napkin.

Notes: 

My ties could be thinner and longer. 

I like that this method does not introduce a third color to the mat.

It is quite thin but would do the job to give you a clean place to eat your lunch at the park.

My tab on the left of the zipper could be narrower.