How to Sew Laminated Cotton Placemats…With a twist on the back!

How to sew laminated cotton (or oilcloth) placemats with a twist at the back

How to sew laminated cotton placemats. Full video and photo tutorial.

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!

How o sew laminated cotton placemats

This post may contain affiliate links (it doesn’t cost you any extra) and I truly thank you if you choose to make a purchase through one of my links ?

What You’ll Need to Sew Laminated Cotton Placemats with a Twist!00 What you will need

Recommended Materials

Recommended Tools

    • Fabric or Wonder Clips from Amazon or eBay (optional. You can use pins, but these may leave little holes in the laminated cotton fabric)
    • Cutting and measuring tools – I use a rotary cutter (this one is the one I use), ruler and self healing cutting mat (this size should cater for most sewing and quilting needs), but you can use scissors, ruler and a marker
  • 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.

01.1 Place right sides of fabric together

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.

01.2 right sides together corner down


Step 2

Secure the two layers together using fabric clips (also know as Wonder Clips). You can find them on Amazon or eBay.

02.1 wonderclip example 2

Ensure you leave a gap for turning.


Want to make a Wonder Clip Wrist holder? See the full step by step tutorial here!

How to Make a Fabric Clip Wrist Holder Craftsy and Website Shop


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.

03 walking foot example


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.

02 wonderclip fabric together

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.

03 sew edges leaving a gap

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.

03 sewing corner stitch on angle 03 TIP sew corner stitch on angle


Step 4

Snip off the excess fabric from the corners of the placemat.

04.2 trim excess from corners


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.

05 find opening to turn right side out 05.1 turn right side out

Tip: Use a chopstick to help push the corners out.

05.2 TIP use chopstick to push 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.

06 prepare for topstitching with wonderclips

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.

06 topstitch 06.1 topstitching complete

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

How to sew laminated cotton placemats

Skills

Posted on

21 November, 2017

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