No Sew Drop Cloth Placemats

I use tablecloths to hide the fact I need to refinish our dining room table and haven’t gotten around to it. Lacey likes my tablecloths because she figured out how to use them to pull things off the table and into her eager mouth. 

I guess I better get some placemats, huh?

I got my inspiration for this project from some of the little bits of supplies I wanted to use up while I was clearing a path through the crap meticulously cleaning and reorganizing my craft room. 

How to Make Drop Cloth Placemats

For the first few placemats I sewed a straight seam along the sides to keep them from fraying and then applied the Stop Fray and Puffy Paint boarder as a precaution. When I made extra placemats to use the last of the drop cloth scraps I skipped the sewing step and they are fine.

You will need:

Drop cloth (I’m using the leftovers from my drop cloth chair cover project)
Ruler
Scissors
Aleene's Stop Fraying (I have this one because it comes in a larger bottle. I’ve used just about every brand of fray check and they all work well.)
Puffy Paint – black
Freezer paper
Sizzix Big Shot
Sizzix Framelits Die Set 7PK w/ Stamp Message Frames
Paint brush or stenciling pouncer
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint 5oz Glacier White Tube
Tulip Fashion Glitter Shimmer Fabric Paint – Crystalina (optional)
Sizzix Sizzlits Alphabet Set, Mac 'n' Cheese
Tulip Urban Shimmer Transfer Sheets – black
Iron
Pressing cloth (I use a plain white men’s handkerchief)

I made as many placemats as I could from the drop cloth scraps I had. 

That way I have a ready supply when they get dirty and need a wash.

Make it:

1. Use the ruler and scissors to cut as many 16 by 11 inch placemats as you want to make.

2. Run a line of Stop Fraying around all four edges of the placemat and allow it to dry. I applied mine 1/4 inch from the side of the placemat because I want a slightly frayed edge but you can do what you like.

3. Use the ruler and Puffy Paint to run a black line of paint 1/4 inch from two outside edges of the placemat and allow it to dry.

4. Use the ruler and Puffy Paint to run a black line of paint 1/4 inch from other two outside edges of the placemat and allow it to dry. The Puffy Paint boarder adds interest and is another precaution to keep the edges of your placemat from completely fraying away.



5. Use the Sizzix Big Shot and Framelit die of your choice to cut a stencil from the freezer paper.

6. Use a dry iron to adhere the freezer paper stencil shiny side down to the placemat.

7. Paint the freezer paper stencil with the paint brush or stenciling pouncer and white fabric paint and allow it to dry.

I used a pouncer because I want slightly uneven paint coverage for my background shape.

8. Paint the stencil with the brush and the white glitter fabric paint and remove the freezer paper stencil from the placemat while the paint is still wet to keep it from running. Originally I was planning on a regular white paint background until I found a pot of shimmer paint and figured why not?

Originally I planned to use a white paint background until I found a pot of 

shimmer paint and figured why not?

9. Use the Sizzix Big Shot and alphabet die of your choice to cut your initial from a Shimmer Transfer Sheet.

10. Place the Shimmer Transfer Sheet on the painted background, cover it with a pressing cloth, and attach it to the placemat with a dry iron.

 W for Woods!

11. Use your placemats to thwart your little doggie’s attempt to steal noms from the table!

Oh yeah? I let Lisa think she won this round. I have other ideas on how to make table food mine…

Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.