Reversible Placemats

I finally finished my Christmas present for Mike's mom. Yay! It is a set of eight reversible placemats. One side is for fall and the other for winter. I used prints that didn't necessary scream Thanksgiving or Christmas but had the essence of it. It's quite simple to make but I'd be lying if I said that it was quick. I've been working on it here and there for a while now... changing fabric choices and insulating material, putting hours into making tons of bias tape, and then struggling to attach the bias tape. I originally started with fusible interfacing to add thickness, but thought it was too thin. Then, I got Insul-Brite but hated the "crunching" noise the material made and how the insulation stuff would come off in speckles on everything. I considered fleece and batting, that would be a tad thicker than I'd like and require quilting stitches. I settled with felt, but you should use whatever you feel comfortable with to achieve the thickness you want.

Materials:

• 14x18" front fabric per placemat
• 14x18" back fabric per placemat
• 14x18" material for insulation per placemat
• 5.5 ft of bias tape per placemat (buy or make your own, see: Homemade Bias Tape)

Costs:

• front fabric ~ $3.25/yd, Joann
• back fabric ~ $2.50/yd, Joann
• felt ~ $0.75/yd, Joann
• homemade bias tape ~ $2

Instructions:

• Lay your pieces in this order: back (right side down), insulating material, front (right side up).
• Sew zig zag stitches along the edge. Trim if necessary. (I prefer this method over having to turn the layers right side out after sewing. This method produces cleaner, less bulky edges and crisper corners.)
• Attach the bias tape (Here is a good tutorial on how to do this: (Bias Tape: How To Make It & Attach It).

Sew away!