Tutorial – Fun Picnic Placemats

Today we have a tutorial for some placemats that are so darn clever.  You can find the easy instructions on Sew in Love with Fabric‘s website.  Kristen from KD Quilts shared this tutorial, and I thought it was brilliant.  It needed to be shared!  Don’t these look like something you need to make for the upcoming Labor Day weekend bash?!

Picnic Placemat

Kristen chose this fabric from a new line by Benartex called Bree, and it sure is perfect for this occasion.  I agree with Kristen, that one of the problems with outside picnics is that the wind carries away the stack of napkins.  As you can see from the photo above, the brilliant part is the addition of a pocket.  A 4″ x 8″ pocket!  For the napkin, as pictured.

But I thought it could go a bit further . . . like add silverware to the napkin pocket.  Why not have it all in one cute little pocket?!

And one more addition I would make would be a tie.  So you could roll them up at home after adding the napkin and silverware.  Don’t you think?  The tie might be sewn on just before the binding, or it could be loose.  Of course, if it was loose it might be lost . . .

Picnic Placemat Summary

Materials needed for one placemat:
2 – coordinating fat quarters
1/2 yard – back and binding
Batting

Cutting Instructions 
From the check:
(1) 2.5″ x 12″ strip
(1) 2.5″ x 8″ strip
(2) 2.5″ squares
(1) 4″ x 8″ piece for pocket

From the red print:

(1) 2.5″ x 12″ strip
(1) 2.5″ x 8″ strip
(2) 2.5″ squares
(1) 12″ x 8″ rectangle

Binding:
Approximately 90″ strip or (2) 2.25″ x WOF strips

So what do you think?  Would you make these?  I think these would be cute for even those inside picnic days.  There might not be a breeze to blow the napkin away, but it is nice to have the pocket just as a cute accessory.  That plate of food looks delicious, too!

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