It's Mother's Day Again

I don't mean "It's Mother's Day Again" in a derogatory way, lol, but in a celebratory way. I decided to make each of my three moms a make-up, small clutch, a whatever they want bag. I like to make them something different and creative each year. 

I chose to make them a bag from a placemat.  I belong to a FB group at https://www.facebook.com/lanunemaker .  She has made so many different bags from the Pioneer Women's placemats at Walmart. A great idea since I can purchase them for little to nothing, add a zipper, construct the bag, and voila! 

For Mother's Day, I decided to try them and add an extra special embellishment of embroidery. This was a challenge. You'll see why later in the post. 

The placemats are truly easy to use. On the first one, I did not trim the outside of the mat. It was very bulky when sewing the seams and the zipper.

For the second, I trimmed all the sides and serged them. This made it so much easier.  If you don't have a serger you can just zig-zag to finish the four edges. 

Add a zipper to each side of the bag and you are basically done. 

If you want to embroider, it must be done before you sew up the sides. 

When you eventually sew the sides, you'll have to sew across the bottom and seem to create a box style bag.

I didn't know this, but when I returned to Walmart for a second, third, or maybe fourth time, I checked the placemat section each time I went there.  I found a set of napkins that matched the bags I was making. Whoo Hooo..... Can you say a fun strap to coordinate with the bag? 

I cut 2 in strips from the napkins I thought would match the bags I've made.

I folded them on each side to meet the middle. 

Sewed each with a 1/8 seam.

Added a round and hooked it to the zipper for a coordinating zipper pull.

I gave my Mom's their gifts at our annual breakfast downtown. I think they really liked them as I judged  their faces. I added a gift certificate for a local farm/restaurant. I hope they enjoy it. 

Lessons Learned: 

1. Can you see the difference in the embroidery designs? In the first picture, the dashed stitch placement is not covered. This is because the screws on my hoop were not tight. 

This second design is much crisper because I tightened the screws to the embroidery hoop.I changed the color too. 

2. I already mentioned you should cut off the edges of the placemats and serge or zig zag the edges before you embroider or add a zipper. 

Have you made something out of a placemat? I would love to see what you have done. 

Enjoy the day,