goin' on a picnic

My next project in Stitch by Stitch was a picnic place mat.  I went the extra mile and made two because frankly, who wants to go on a picnic by herself?  My original plan was to make a woman's place mat and a man's place mat, but I really liked this bird print from Joann. (I bought a little extra to make a few more things because I like the print/colors so much.) I decided to get fat quarters in male/female instead.  I had already eyed a print months and months ago, but it had no purpose.  It found a purpose!  I loved all the colors.

fat quarters

I had the opportunity to practice making more bias tape.  I did a little bit better and can do it mostly from memory.  However, I couldn't find a 3" bias tape maker to help me in the ironing part, so that part was a little bit difficult. Applying it was a little bit difficult too since it wasn't perfect.

I'm skipping a lot of steps here.  I cheated when cutting by using graph paper because I had major difficulty truing up the fabric; I also already knew how to baste. 

Turning the corners was problematic.  I had to read and re-read the instructions a lot.  They finally worked out on the first place mat, but I had more issues with binding the second place mat and ended up having to do some hand stitching.

turning the corner



the corners have been turned

 The mitered corners turned out well on the first place mat.  I had a harder time flipping and straightening the corners on the second place mat because of bias tape problems as I mentioned before.

mitered corner

I used my heat gun on the ribbon to make sure the ends wouldn't fray.  I used the clothes pin to keep from burning my fingers (and the carpet).

the amazing heat gun action

Since I didn't have man and woman fabric, I chose to use a red ribbon and a blue ribbon.  The measurements were off in Stitch by Stitch, so I came up with my own for the pockets.  I made three pockets for knife, spoon, and fork.  I made a bit smaller pocket for chopsticks or straws and a larger pocket for a napkin.

I like the way they turned out.  It was a fun project.  If I make them again, I want to figure out how to apply a smaller width bias tape because I do have a 1" bias tape maker to help me with straight and precise folds.

my place mat

a man's placemat (I know it still looks girly but it's meant as a pair for a picnic date;
I'm sure if food is involved, he won't notice...maybe)