How I Made My Jelly Roll Place Mats

I finally got around to making some Christmas place mats for Nick & I and I thought I'd share the process with you. They were super easy!

I started with a Jelly Roll. I chose a collection called Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey. A Jelly Roll, by Moda,  is a roll of 2 1/2" strips of each fabric in an entire collection. This one came with 40 strips, enough to make at least 12 place mats. You'll also need backing fabric and some fusible fleece or batting of some sort (fusible is optional). The finished place mats are about 17"w x 12 1/2"t.

Each place mat will be made from 9 strips of fabric. To make 6 place mats, pick out 18 strips and cut each one into (3) 13 1/2" pieces. This configuration leaves very little waste at the end of the strips, yeah!

Lay out all of the cut fabric pieces and choose 9 for each place mat. Put them in piles then stitch each piece together using 1/4" seams. Press the seams in one direction.

I added some ribbon to my place mats for a little extra decoration. Why not, it's Christmas? Cut backing fabric the same size as your pieced top. Cut fleece/batting 1/2" smaller (in each direction) than the backing and top pieces.

Place the fleece on the wrong side of the place mat top leaving 1/4" around each side. Press if using fusible. Now pin the backing to the top with wrong sides together. Stitch all four sides in 1/4" seam, leaving about a 6" opening for turning.

Clip the corners and turn each place mat right side out, being careful to push out the corners.

 

Fold seam allowances at opening to inside and pin in place. Topstitch close to edge on all four sides.

Now it's time to do some quilting. I went with a freehand loopy sort of stitching in silver thread. The metallic thread was a major pain to work with (be sure to use a metallic needle), but it looks great!

 

Here are my finished Jelly Roll place mats. I only made two for now because that's all I need.  What do you think?

Feeling Special

First, thanks everyone for the very nice comments about the lack of love my little monkeys are feeling lately. :( But on a way better note...I've been featured on the Craft: Blog. You know? Craft Magazine. WOW! How cool is that???? Thanks so much to Little Thing aka Craft Pudding on Etsy, for talking about my homemade labels. Check out her labels, they're great. She used colored thread and it made a great little border.Thanks so much Magda!

Zippy Zips

Seems like lately when I've posted pictures of my zippy pouches, I've been getting a lot of questions about how I attach the zippers. Well, here's what you've all been waiting for...the zippy zip mini tutorial! Wow! But seriously, this is an age old way of putting a zipper in a pouch, I just don't like the weird corners you get with a zipper going all the way to the edge. I didn't use a pattern, but this isn't rocket surgery folks.

Cut two small pieces of the fabric of your choice . This is a great way to use the little leftover bits. You need a piece big enough so that you can fold it in half and still reach the end of your pouch/bag. You'll end up with a tab at each end of the zipper. I like to make them too long and wide, then trim them later. Place the folded edge over the end of the zipper with just enough space so that you can stitch close to the fold without breaking your needle on the zipper stop/end. Then just top stitch through the fabric and zipper. If the tab is wider than the zipper, trim it to the width of the zipper tape. Once you've done this to both ends, trim the tabs so that the zipper & it's tabs are the same width as your pouch/bag.


Now, on the wrong side of the zipper, trim the ends of the zipper tape with pinking shears. I like to leave about 1/4". This way when you stitch the sides of your bag together, there's less bulk for turning. You'll never see this part once the bag's done because it gets tucked way up into the corner.


Now for the fun part. Place the zipper with it's tabs face down on one side panel of your pouch/bag. You have to stop and think at this point. Make sure you know what's what. Which side do you want the zipper pull to be on when the bag is closed? Is it the front or the back side? Anyway, line up the edge of the zipper and tabs with the top edge of your pouch, right sides together. Pin in place, trying not to make it too wobbly with pins. Take a lining piece and line it up with that same edge, right side together with the side panel. So, what you have now is the outside of the bag facing the zipper and the lining. Like a little sandwich with the zipper in between. Stitch through all three layers with about a 1/4" seam allowance. Press so the seam allowances are going away from the zipper and then do the same thing for the other side.


Now topstitch close to each edge and you have a very neatly placed zipper.


Here's what it looks like on the inside. A nice, neat and enclosed zipper. For a zippy pouch, I just fold in half at this point and stitch the open edges. Make sure the zipper is open for turning or you'll have a battle on your hands. Be sure to clip the corner to avoid bulk once it's turned.

Hope this all makes sense, happy zipping!