Sewing: Week Twenty Eight Outdoor Placemats

Outdoor placemats is my week twenty eight project for the 52 weeks of sewing. Did you catch the outdoor table runner last week? Well, these placemats accompany that runner to make for a bright and festive outdoor table and they’re fun to make. These placemats are colourful, energetic and take little time to put together.

Let’s get started.

What You Need

1 yard of wide fabric
serger
coordinating thread
iron
scissors
fray check

First, pick your fabric and you want outdoor friendly fabric. My fabric is 500+ sun hours, yet anything higher is great! A few weeks ago I did pillows in this fabric and these placemats coordinate perfectly. Not too matchy-matchy, however, just enough detail to pull our outdoor space together.

So, here’s the tricky part. I cut these 18×18 inches, but you can cut any size. The neat part is that the measurement of 18×18 matches the pattern exactly on the fabric. Backyard at the bottom and charcoal at the top.

Now, I did try and match a backing to the placemats, however, in that process I lost too much to the seam allowance. As such, I simply rolled the hem on each placemat instead. The bonus part is that this fabric is heavy and weighted enough to stand on it’s own. As a result, it’s okay not to add a backing since it’s not like flimsy linen or jersey knit that blows over in the wind.

Once I decided to roll the edges, the placemats took about 3 minutes each. Roll hem all edges, then fray check each corner. Press with a cloth between the outdoor fabric and the iron. Then, cut away the excess thread.

That’s it and that’s all.

Time to have an outdoor dinner party! Who wants to come – anyone? You bring the drinks and I’ll bring the decor and the food.

Our outdoor table still needs sanding, yet this is far better than it’s looked in a while. Time to hit up the BBQ and enjoy the long summer days here in Northern Alberta. Moreover, these placemats will work well on our concrete counter tops inside the house. Bonus for double planning and extra use.