These laminated cotton placemats are very well loved in my house. If you have young kids at home you appreciate the fact that they are very easy to wipe clean and they can’t be frisbeed across the table very easily due to the gripping backing!! The laminated cotton lasts longer if you hand wash them only, but I put the in the washing machine on the hand wash (very gentle) cycle. I’ve created a video tutorial to show you how to make these step by step or you can keep on scrolling to see the photo tutorial instead. Let’s do it!
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What You’ll Need to Sew Laminated Cotton Placemats with a Twist!
Recommended Materials
- 12″ (30 1/2cm) x 14 1/2″ (37cm) Laminated cotton fabric
- 12″ (30 1/2cm) x 14 1/2″ (37cm) Grip mat for the twist at the back
- Matching thread
Recommended Tools
- Sewing machine (Here’e the #1 Best Seller in sewing machines on Amazon in the US)
- Sewing machine needle (Universal 90/14 would be great for these trickier/thicker materials)
- Walking Foot (highly recommended)
- Chopstick or blunt end of pencil
Sew Laminated Cotton Placemats with a Twist Video
or Watch it here on YouTube
Step by Step Photo Instructions
Step 1
Cut the laminated fabric and the the grip mat backing to your preferred size. My pieces are cut to 12″ (30 1/2cm) x 14 1/2″ (37cm). I chose 12″ because this is the width that the grip mat rolls come in.
Place the laminated cotton piece down with right side facing up. place the grip mat piece directly on top of the laminated cotton with its right side facing down (if you can tell), but it doesn’t really matter.
Step 2
Secure the two layers together using fabric clips (also know as Wonder Clips). You can find them on Amazon or eBay.
Ensure you leave a gap for turning.
Want to make a Wonder Clip Wrist holder? See the full step by step tutorial here!
Tip: A walking foot would be very useful for this project as it would allow for the bottom and top layers of fabric to feed through nicely and without gripping. A teflon sewing foot may do the trick also.
Step 3
Sew the two pieces together (see the photo below to see where I stop and start sewing). I used a 3mm stitch length and a 1/2″ seam allowance.
Tip: I line my fabric edge up with the edge of the walking foot and move the needle over to get the desired seam allowance width. This way I only have to keep an eye of the edge of the fabric staying lined up with the edge of the waling foot.
Tip: When you reach the corner, stop with the needle in the down positing, lift the presser foot and turn the fabric 45 degrees. Stitch forward one stitch, lift the presser foot and turn the remaining 45 degrees to stitch the next edge. This will give you lovely pointed corners when you are ready to turn the placemat right side out.
Step 4
Snip off the excess fabric from the corners of the placemat.
Step 5
Now you are ready to turn the placemat right side out. Do this carefully as you may crinkle the laminated cotton if it is scrunched too much.
Tip: Use a chopstick to help push the corners out.
Step 6
Use the fabric clips to help hold the edges together in preparation for topstitching. The fabric clips are very helpful here as most laminated cottons cannot be ironed.
Topstitch with the needle approximately 3/16″-1/4″ (1/2cm) from the edge of the placemat. I line up the edge of the placemat with a different part on the walking foot to create a smaller topstitched gap from the edge.
Repeat the process until you have the desire amount required!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial for how to sew laminated cotton placemats. Remember, you can find all the links to the products I’ve used in the recommended materials and tools section towards the top.
Happy sewing,
Domenica | Easy Sewing for Beginners
