fun with placemats

recently, my friend jennifer and i set up a playdate for our babies and while they were down for a nap, she and i played around with my sewing machine. i don't know if you've ever heard of using placemats sewn into purses, but that is exactly what we did. it is one of the easiest projects to do, even if you've never sewn before. jennifer found several placemats on clearance at pier one and she brought those along. she found the bag handles/straps at a local fabric store.

this is how you do it:

1. on the wrong side of the placemat, measure and mark where the straps will be sewn onto the placemats. we used ribbon to attach the rings of the straps to the mat.

2. sew the ribbon onto the mat so that the straps are laying towards the center of the mat.

3. if you want a closure of some sort, you will add it here in this step. we didn't add one. velcro would be best so that it doesn't show on the outside of the bag. just measure it so that it is centered correctly and sew it on.

4. fold the mat, right sides together, and pin it in place. sew up the sides along the finished edge of the mat. turn it right side out. and viola! that's it! you can topstich along the outside if you like.

here are the two that jennifer and i worked on. jennifer did a great job for never sewing before.

the front:

the inside, showing the ribbon/handle attached:

the back side:

and the other purse: we folded down the beaded part on this one.