No glue-No sew Placemats...endless possibilities

12 years ago

I saw this idea on a blog and thought it was worth sharing. The possibilities for placemats is as endless as there are fabric...and be really neat for various holidays.

Especially as you can just whip them off and wash to use over (or use as napkins too.)

Enjoy,

Karen

PS....sorry to be missing this past week. I spent a lot of time fighting major anxiety attacks over neck surgery I had to have to remove a huge tumor from back of my neck.

The thought of my neck being messed up, and getting anethesia scared me to death. I'm such a wimp!!

Surgery was yesterday, successful but my neck sure hurts bad. Will get biopsy back on Thurs, tho Lipomas are rarely malignant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Neat idea for placemats

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

Marlene Kindred
12 years ago
Karen...my goodness...I had no idea! Thanks so much for the link, but you should have let us know...we could have had prayers flying your way! So glad it's over and you're doing better...hope you have some pain meds for the neck. Take it easy lady!
phonegirl
12 years ago
Karen, this is a great idea. I love her choice of material she used. Bet you did too. Some people are so clever.

Again, so glad your surgery was successful. Take your drugs while need be for pain. Let us know how your biospy comes out.

More hugs and prayers coming your way. Sometimes we worry more than need be but your not a whimp! Just shows you have Feelings and that's a good thing.

Punk
Related Discussions
Sewing Leather - any tips?
Q
Comments (14)
You brought me out of lurkerdom with your questions! First of all, you have a cool machine there. Congrats! My machine (Viking)is electronic and has a leather setting. It set itself for a stitch length of 3mm (8 stitches per inch) and tension at 5 1/2. When sewing leather, use a leather needle, size 90, and a leather or teflon foot. Instead of pinning seams, use a hand held stapler within the seam line. It saves your fingers, and you won't bend a bunch of pins. After the seams are sewn to the final fit, trim them down to 1/4 inch. Don't press, but pound them open and flat. A leather mallet is made for this purpose, but any rubber mallet will do. Glue the seams flat with rubber cement to hold them in place. Alternatively, seams can be topstitched on either side of the seam line. That's probably not applicable in your case, but I wanted to give thorough instructions. Good luck, and have fun!!! Hope this helps.
...See More
Question about sewing over pins...
Q
Comments (18)
I agree that the best plan is to pin from the inside of the seam far enough away to avoid contact of the pins with the needle. However, I've sewn over pins enough to break needles (doesn't happen often) and bend pins (more likely to happen). I have never hurt the machine (tho there is scary noise when they make contact) or needed any repair as a result. Fifty years of sewing talking here. When a needle breaks, it snaps in ONE place and the thread is still through the eye which means the loose piece is still tethered to the work and not at all likely to fly up in your eye. I have never had a pin break in two. Not saying that anyone should not wear protective glasses, pin carefully, pull the pins out before they reach the needle or take any other preemptive cautionary measures. Just inserting some practical reality. Sewing a little slowly over pins gives the fabric and the descending needle additional time adjust to allow the needle to deflect appropriately. And it's worth considering that an older machine may have less ability to scoot to one or the other side of a pin and probably is harder to locate repair resources so factor that in. Still, there are those points that you want to be precise and sometimes pinning and sewing over it is the way to go. I'd hate for anyone to be unduly frightened or apprehensive when they do that.
...See More
Easy to sew valance directions
Q
Comments (18)
Hi sheesharee, Let me take these in order - Lining fabric is sold at any store that carries home dec fabric. It's usually white or off-white and comes 54" wide. I buy mine on eBay about 20 yards at at time, since I use quite a bit of it. It comes in all cotton, all poly and cotton/poly blends. Joann Fabric has many different linings. Pin your fabric ALL the way around. I use a pin about every 3". You can leave the opening for turning on the top, side or on the bottom. As noted above, if the openings you leave on the sides near the top are large enough, based on the type of curtain rod you are using, these openings may be large enough to use for turning the fabric. The opening that you leave for turning your fabric right side out must be left OPEN. You will choose where to leave your opening - I suggest the bottom or on a side. Wherever you leave it - stitch across the top of your valance using a half inch seam. Stitch across the bottom of it next. Now stitch each side, from top to bottom, using the seam allowance. Doing it in this order reduces the chance of puckering. BUT, you must also leave the openings near the top of each side that will become the openings for your rod pockets. If they are large enough, you do not need to leave another opening to turn the fabric. You can stick your hand in the rod pocket openings to turn it. No, if you do it correctly, the opening that you have left open, when you turn and press your valance, will be folded under by ironing. It will fold in itself as you iron. You simply need to cut the fusible tape to the length of that opening, place the tape inside on top of the folded fabric edge, and press it closed. It will look just the same as the stitched fabric above and below it. I suggest cutting off the selvages, which are the white parts with the writing, before you pin the fabric and lining together. This assures that you will not see that writing through the lining when you finish your valance. You will see in the 3rd paragraph above where I say that I use about 1 1/4 yards of fabric for the length of my valances. This extra fabric is needed for the folds that are created when you tie up the fabric. However, if you are making this for a short window, you can buy less. The center 'drop' on my finished valances after tying them up is generally 20" - 24", but there are folds in that, as you see above in the pic, or in the one below that shows it clearly. I'd always err on the side of it being too long, rather than too short. When it's short it looks skimpy and cheap, IMO. You can tie it up as high or as low as you want, but the folds add richness to the valance. Here is a link that might be useful: see lining fabric here on ebay
...See More
Do You Use an Old Singer Sewing Machine in Your Decor?
Q
Comments (33)
I learned to sew on a Singer sewing Machine and remember quite vividly how my feet used to go like gangbusters on that thing. Here is what I have done with mine. We took off the top completely including the belt. Gave the iron base a fresh coat of black paint( looks great), and had a piece of lightly tinted tempered glass with slightly rounded corners( no sharpe edges) put on the top.The glass cutter gave us some small fancy flat fasteners to attach it to the base where the original screws held the top originally. I have it in our front foyer and use it as a table to put whatever seasonal decor I want. At Christmas time one of my larger Dept 56 Dickens Village pieces and accessories make a very nice entrance to the house.I hve also thought that a nice piece of marble on the top, would work well with the iron base perhaps in a kitchen.
...See More
oldalgebra
12 years ago
Karen, hope you're feeling a little better by now. Sleeping any?

That placemat-in-a-pinch idea is fab! Glad you spotted it and posted the link. Something tells me I'm going to be using that idea.
sameboat
12 years ago
Cool! Placemat slipcovers!
plainjane425
12 years ago
Karen...when it comes to surgery of any kind..
we do put ourselves through all kinds of anxiety...after all, we're only human.
Sometimes it does help to share those feelings, but then, everyone has their own
way of dealing with it. I'm so glad to all went well for you and that you're feeling relieved.
Take care of yourself...and prayers for good news on the biopsy.

Great idea using fabric this way for 'no sew' placemats.
I'm usually thinking napkins with left over fabric, but
this idea was so clever. I like the fabric she picked out too.

jane
jeannespines
12 years ago
Oh, the fabric is GORGEOUS! (quick fix, too!) TFS!

I'm glad the surgery is over, Karen & that you are here on the forum for a bit...take those pain meds & will keep you in good thought & prayer for Thurs. news & healing. Gentle hug, Jeanne S.
Purplemoon
Original Author
12 years ago
Jane, I normally share my feelings here...and prayers sure would have been welcomed. But it was embarrassing to be scared senseless. I actually wrote out 'final wishes' for my husband and my daughter to take care if something should happen to me. Pretty pathetic, huh? (several years ago a friend of ours went in hospital for minor knee surgery and her heart stopped 3 times under the anethesia. She was in a coma for 6 wks then died. So that was really playing havoc with my anxiety as my surgery date grew nearer.) I'm still fighting it a bit till I get biopsy results.

hugs, Karen
nana2010_gw
12 years ago
[[Karen]] I'm so glad your surgery went well!!
Sending good thoughts and prayers your way.

I'm lovin the placemat 'slipcovers' too.
Fun idea.
Nana
janet1_2007
12 years ago
Karen, sure glad your surgery went well and prayers for a good biopsy report tomorrow. Sorry to be the cows tail sending good wishes your way, but hadn't had a chance to check the forum for a few days. Hope your neck is healing well and you are not in too much pain. I think we are all whimps when it comes to having ansethia and surgery. My DDIL had some "Female Problems" and had surgery today and she was pretty nervous too and she is a nurse.Guess we wouldn't be human if we didn't feel dread and fear. Let us know when you hear from the report. Hugs and prayers, Janet
party_music50
12 years ago
Wow, Karen, I can completely empathize with your anxiety over the neck surgery, and I'm glad it seems to have gone well for you! I hate knowing that I will have permanent damage with my surgery so I'm having angst early and trying to delay. :(

No glue-No sew Placemats...endless possibilities

Comments (10)

Marlene Kindred

phonegirl

Related Discussions

oldalgebra

sameboat

plainjane425

jeannespines

Purplemoon
Original Author

nana2010_gw

janet1_2007

party_music50

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

No glue-No sew Placemats...endless possibilities

Comments (10)

Related Discussions

PurplemoonOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Purplemoon
Original Author