Easy Holiday Placemats

Who doesn’t love a little holiday color on their table? 

I’m going to share an easy way to make placemats out of coordinating fabric.  Through the years, I’ve made these placemats for just about every holiday.  I’ve even given them as gifts.    This is a photo-heavy tutorial, but once you get the hang of making the mitered corners, they really are a snap to make. 

To make a set of four placemats, you’ll need a yard each of two coordinating fabrics, as well as low-loft quilt batting.  I like Warm & Natural , but you could use any woven kind of batting that would hold up to repeated washing.   Before you start sewing, make sure you pre-wash your fabric. 

Cut your Fabric: 
For the Backing (The back piece wraps around the front to make the front border, so it needs to be bigger.):   Cut four pieces 16” x 20”.
For the Front Piece:  Cut four pieces 13” x 17”.   
For the Batting:  Cut four pieces 13” x 17”.   (You can save time by layering the front fabric with the batting and cutting them together.

Mark Fabric for Mitered Corners: 

Mark a 1.5”  by 1.5” square on the reverse side of the backing piece.  

Next, using a ruler (a clear quilting ruler makes this super easy), extend the point of the square 45 degrees in each direction to the edges of the fabric.  Mark this line.  It will be the stitching line.
   
Draw another line 1/4” away from the first line toward the pointed corner.  This will be the cutting line.

Stitch the Mitered Corners:

Fold each corner, right sides together, matching the stitching line, cutting line and edges of the marked square.  Pin in place. 

Stitch along the stitching line.  Backstitch only at the folded edge.  

Cut away the excess fabric along the cutting line.  Complete the above steps on all four corners of all four placemat backing pieces. 

Turn right side out and press.  You should end up with mitered corners that look like this.

Add the Front Fabric: 
Layer the front fabric and the batting pieces together.

Slip the front/batting layer inside the mitered backing piece.  You may need to trim the edges of the front/batting a bit to make things fit perfectly.

Turn edges of the backing piece under approximately 1/4” and press. 

Gently remove a few stitches at each corner to release about 1/4”.  Turn these edges under and press.

Turned under edges should look like this.  You may have to fuss with the corner just a bit to get everything looking pretty.

Pin  all layers together, smoothing the top down flat, and making sure all the edges are neatly tucked in.

Topstitch close to edge.   Look at that pretty miter!  Once you finish one, you’ll see how easy these are to make. 

Happy Fall!

Linking up to some of  my favorite blogs this week:  Today’s Creative Blog,  Blue Cricket Design,  Somewhat Simple, and Tatertots and Jello.