Today I made a set of reversible placemats. This would be a great first project for anyone new to using a sewing machine, and would make a quick and easy housewarming gift. Here’s how I did it. I marked the dimensions of a placemat I already had on a piece of newspaper. Then I measured an extra 1/2” all around the edges for a seam allowance, and cut on that line. I pinned my newspaper pattern to my (prewashed, pressed) fabric and cut it out. For four placemats, I needed a bit less than a yard of each fabric (my fabrics were 45” wide). I took one cutout of each fabric and pinned them together with their right sides facing, then sewed around the edges with a 1/2” seam, leaving a gap of a few inches along one side. I clipped a little triangle out of each corner so that the fabric wouldn’t bunch, then used the gap I’d left to turn the placemat right-side-out. I sewed around the entire edge of the placemat with a contrasting thread (totally just accidentally typed “yarn”!) to make it look neater and seal the gap. The only thing I would do differently in the future is to make sure to choose two fabrics that are the same weight. My blue-and-white fabric is a bit lighter than the other and I think these would feel more structured and lie more perfectly flat if it were heavier. Still, I’m really pleased with these and making four of the same thing in a row was good practice — I was so much more confident by the last one.

Today I made a set of reversible placemats. This would be a great first project for anyone new to using a sewing machine, and would make a quick and easy housewarming gift. Here’s how I did it.

  1. I marked the dimensions of a placemat I already had on a piece of newspaper. Then I measured an extra 1/2” all around the edges for a seam allowance, and cut on that line.
  2. I pinned my newspaper pattern to my (prewashed, pressed) fabric and cut it out. For four placemats, I needed a bit less than a yard of each fabric (my fabrics were 45” wide).
  3. I took one cutout of each fabric and pinned them together with their right sides facing, then sewed around the edges with a 1/2” seam, leaving a gap of a few inches along one side.
  4. I clipped a little triangle out of each corner so that the fabric wouldn’t bunch, then used the gap I’d left to turn the placemat right-side-out.
  5. I sewed around the entire edge of the placemat with a contrasting thread (totally just accidentally typed “yarn”!) to make it look neater and seal the gap.

The only thing I would do differently in the future is to make sure to choose two fabrics that are the same weight. My blue-and-white fabric is a bit lighter than the other and I think these would feel more structured and lie more perfectly flat if it were heavier. Still, I’m really pleased with these and making four of the same thing in a row was good practice — I was so much more confident by the last one.