Sewing: Week Six Valentine's Day Placemats — 3ten

Week six Valentine’s day placemats – just in time for the holiday of pink and red! These placemats are made for February 14, but the wonderful thing is, they don’t scream Valentine’s Day, so you can use them in the spring or whenever you’re in the mood for pink! So versatile, fun and pink.

Okay, let’s get started. These finished Valentine’s day placemats will measure 15×15 and are the perfect size for a dinner plate and flatware.

What You Need

6 pieces of fabric that measure 16×16 (backing)
another 6 pieces of fabric that measure 2.5×17 (small strip)
and 6 pieces of fabric that measure 4.5×17 (medium strip)
lastly, 6 pieces of fabric that measure 9.5×17 (large strip)
matching thread
needle
serger
machine
rotary cutter
cutting mat
scissors
iron
fray check
pins

First, gather your fabric. For the backing I used a neutral grey fabric. Medium weight to give the placemat some structure. The small strip I used a textured grey and white and it’s actually quite heavy. Then, the medium strip was pink gingham which is very light. For the large strip I used pink denim. The same pink denim I used in the lunch box tutorial, actually. It’s a great fabric and I love it. In this project it adds some weight and the colour is bright and fun.

Time to Sew

Okay – once you’ve picked all of your fabric (of course you could just do one colour, or you could do more strips, but I liked the 3) you’ll need to cut out the strips. You need to ensure your strips add up to more than 16 because we’ll be sewing them together, thus needing room for the seam allowance.

Use your rotary cutter and cut all the strips.

Once you’ve cut all the strips, you’ll need to decide on your pattern. I wanted the small strip in the middle, so once I decided on that, the rest was easy.

For a polished look you’ll want to serge each placemat the same way. On mine, I serged the grey to the gingham with the grey on top. Then, I serged the grey to the pink denim with the grey on top. This way, as you can see, the gingham and the denim fold over the grey on the finished product. You can pick whichever way you like, but just be consistent with each placemat.

Once you’ve got all the strips together it’s time to put the whole thing together. With right sides together, serge the backing to the attached strips. Leave about 3 inches on the left side (the denim side) so you can turn the placemat right side out. Press the placemat before you turn it. Use fray check on the corners and clip them just a touch. Turn the placemat right side out and press. Pin the opening closed.

Time to get ready to top stitch.

You can see I’ve selected a matching pink for the top stitch and a matching grey for the bobbin – this way, the grey is on the back side, co-ordinating with the placemats backing. I’m also using a denim weighted needle to make life easier. Top stitch away.