DIY: Summer Picnic Placemats

Hello to all the lovely readers of The Lovely Cupboard! It's your crafty contributor, Mareth, here again to share a fun and easy summer project with you.

The bright floral patterns and slick finish of oil cloth always remind me of outdoor dining and cool beverages on warm evenings. What better project for this fabric than a set of summer picnic placemats?!

These placemats are easy as pie and only require a handful of supplies:
   -oil cloth
   -bias tape binding
   -ribbon 
   -sewing machine.

1. Start by cutting 2 pieces of oil cloth approximately 16" wide and 12.5" tall for the inside and outside pieces.
2. Cut a 5" x 7" piece to make your cutlery pocket.
3. Fold in each side of the pocket piece by 1/2" and add a top stitch around all sides.
4. Next, stitch your pocket piece to the inside mat piece.

5. Now you're ready to add your binding. To make this process even easier, use a glue stick to glue the inside and outside pieces of your mat together, wrong sides facing. This will keep the pieces secure while you prep and sew the binding.

6. Tuck your inside and outside mat pieces into the fold of the bias tape. Use hair clips to hold the binding in place before you sew. You can also use pins but they can be tough to insert into oil cloth and can also leave holes.

Check out this tutorial for help in making nice mitered corners for your mats.

7. As a finishing step, sew a piece of ribbon to one of the short sides of your mat so that you can tie it up in a roll for easy packing.

Now pack up your new placemats, some tasty snacks, a bottle of summer wine and hit the park!

       ~Mareth {Lime Riot}

***This is Heather popping in to the post. Doesn't that just make you want to find a park right now?? Head over to the Facebook page to see the stencil giveaway winner!***