Laminate Placemats

As I promised, here is the tutorial for the placemats I made using Riley Blake’s laminates, which go together with the table runner I showed on my previous post (see it here). They are reversible, each side having a different combination of fabrics!

I added a pocket for utensils to both sides and quilted right above the pockets only, to hold the batting in place. For the quilting motif, I chose to mimic the chevron laminate design, as you will see in a close-up picture below.

My family LOVES them! My 23-year-old, Michael, wants me to mass produce them…

The set I made has six lovely placemats (twelve, if you remember they are reversible). Putting them together is fast, so they make a great gift for when you are pressed for time (read Christmas time!).

Here is what you will need:
Coordinating laminates (I had 1/2 yard of two or three fabrics)
batting
contrasting thread
pinking shears
walking foot
Golden Thread paper
cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler
basic sewing supplies

Since I made 6 placemats, the pictures are not all from one single mat (can you tell I was having fun?).


Cut 12 rectangles, each measuring 18–1/4″ x 12-1/2″.

Cut 12 pockets, each measuring 5-1/2″ x 7-1/2″.

Using pinking shears, trim about 1/8″ all around each pocket. This way, there is no need to fold sides down before you sew the pocket onto the placemat. As a bonus, the trim reminds us of the chevron pattern used on this project.

Place pocket onto the bottom right corner of a rectangle, making sure it is placed 1 inch from the bottom edge and 1 inch from the right edge of the placemat.

Notice that I am not securing the pocket to the rectangle with anything, as the pocket is 1″ in from the edge, making it difficult to secure it with a paper clip. Also, I do not want to put holes on the laminate. So, as I get ready to sew it in place, I measure it again, put the needle down into the fabric, and make any necessary adjustments. Sew it, leaving the top of the pocket open.

Blogger is giving me a hard time, and it keeps flipping my pictures!!! But, this is what the pocket should look like.

After sewing pockets to two rectangles, you are ready to assemble the placemat: right sides together, making sure that the pockets are facing up and are at opposite sides (the bottom rectangle with have its pocket on the right side facing you, the top rectangle will have its pocket on the left side, its wrong side facing you).

Now, cut a 18-1/4” x 12-1/3″ piece of batting, put it under the rectangles, and sew the sandwich together with a 1/4″ seam, leaving a 4″ opening.

Trim corners…

… and turn it inside out.

Fold fabrics 1/4” in at the opening, secure them with a paper clip, and top stitch all around so placemat will lay flat.

Because I added pockets to both the front and the back, I could not quilt the entire surface of the mat. I decided to trace the chevron pattern using Golden Thread quilting paper. Then, I cut out the strips of paper …

… and secured one of them to the top of the placemat using paper clips. Now for some quilting fun!

Notice that I sewed the entire placemat using the walking foot, which handles the laminate better. Here, I am quilting with it. Once the quilting is done, carefully remove paper.