crafts: oilcloth placemats

i'm finally putting my machine to serious use!! i always get more excited (and efficient) when im making silly things like owl paperweights and felt food. but now there's a serious deadline! i have till wednesday to complete sheets for our guest beds!!

meanwhile, another fun-ish project for the home!

one set of (6) placemats, kabocha approves...

i am smitten by some awesome embroidery work i've seen and thought to give it a go. but am starting slow.. so the initaly plan was to embroider simple words like "bon appetit!", "itadakimasu", " 慢吃!", "Selamat makan!" onto the placemats. until i asked for an australian representation and got "throw a shrimp on the barbie"..

seriously? why don't i embroider my thesis there instead? which part of beginner embroidery did he not get. hmmm...

so we ditched that plan and picked our favorite sushi-s! :)

amai ebi (sweet shrimp) & negi toro (minced tuna with spring onions)..

hmm.. and couldn't resist putting a little sushi on the side!

it was a subtle touch in the corner of our placemats but i'll stick to more contrasting threads in future. its meant to be machine-washable but with oil clothes, a quick wipedown after each meal is usually sufficient now our home is all ready for home-cooked dinner!! bon appetit, folks!!

for (6) placemats you'll need:

(1) m of oil cloth ( i got mine from nippori fabric market )

(3.6) m of bias tape - about 90 cm each

embroidery thread

sewing machine

sharp scissors/ rotary cutter

1) cut the oil cloth into rectangles of 30 x 40cm

2) trace the artwork by fabric pencil onto the front side

3) embroidery work: i used the basic back stitch with 3 thread. the standard embroidery thread comes in 6, so split it by half. learnt the basic stitch from here.

4) attach the bias tape and press the corners before working it on the machine. mitered corners were a little tough for my beginner sewing techniques but completely worth the effort!

happy crafty weekend!

xx