Placemats are a super fun way to dress up your table for a special meal or even just to add some nice color to your kitchen. Today I’m going to share with you all how to sew a placemat.
To make your own placemats you will need:
- fabric for the front and back of your placemats (2 rectangles of 15 inches X 18 inches for each placemat)
- fusible interfacing for the inside of the placemats (1 rectangle of 15 inches X 18 inches for each placemat)
- coordinating thread, sewing machine, needle, rotary cutting set or scissors
- iron
How to Sew a Placemat
Step 1: Wash, dry, and iron your fabric for the front and back of the placemats. Then cut out the rectangles for the front and back pieces and the interfacing.
Step 2: Lay down the interfacing with the bumps facing up. Lay one of your fabric rectangles down on top of it, with the right side facing up. Iron on top of the fabrics, fusing them together.
Step 3: Lay the other rectangle of fabric down on top of the two pieces that you just fused together. The right sides of the front and back of the placemat should be together.
Pin them together, then sew almost all the way around the edge, sewing 1/2 inch from the edge BUT leave a few inches unsewn on one of the sides. Be sure to backstitch a little when you start and finish.
Step 4: Trim the corners. This will help you get nice crisp corners when you turn it all right side out.
Step 5: Use the hole that you left to turn the placemat right side out. Then use a corner turner or pen to poke the corners all the way out.
Step 6: Press it nice and flat. Then pin it down again. Topstitch around the edges, sewing about 1/4 inch from the edge. Press it all nice and flat again and you’re done!
Now when you go to wash these the front and back may separate a little but a good ironing will flatten everything out again.
If you prefer, you can do some more topstitching on the placemat in the middle to prevent so much shifting.
Quilt on a fun design or highlight an aspect of your fabric with some decorative stitching. It’s all up to you! Have fun sewing and let me know if you make some!
More Sewing Tutorials
Cat is a teacher turned stay-at-home mom of two boys. She shares crafts, DIY projects, kids’ activities, and a little bit about life in Ohio. Learn more about her and the blog on the About page.