Patio Place Mat Tutorial

Here's the tutorial for the Patio Placemats that I showed you in the previous post!

Materials:

• (2) 12" x 15" pieces for the main body of the place mat
• (1) 12" x 15" piece for the pocket
• (1) 12" x 15" piece of batting
• coordinating thread

1. Cut out your pieces.

2. Fold the pocket fabric piece in half lengthwise and top stitch 1/4" from the fold. Place the pocket on top of one piece of main body fabric, aligning all the raw edges on the bottom. Pin in place and baste 1/8"-1/4" from the edge along the three outer sides of the pocket.

3. Use a pencil or fabric marker to draw a line 4 1/2" from the right side of the pocket and stitch straight down over the line to split the pocket in two.

4. Make your place mat sandwich in this order:

• Main body piece without the pocket, right side up
• Main body piece with pocket, right side down
• Batting

5. Pin and then stitch the sandwich together, 1/4" from the edge, leaving an approximately 6" opening on the top edge of the place mat.

6. Clip the corners and trip any excess batting. Turn the place mat right side out, pushing out the corners with a chopstick. Tuck the edges of the opening inside and give it a good pressing all over.

7. Top stitch 1/4" from the edge all around the place mat.

Load it with your paper goods and enjoy!

Again, if you make yourself some place mats using this tutorial -- or any of my tutorials! -- be sure to add some photos to my Flickr group. I'd love to see what you're making!