home tutorials features parties custom orders

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Christmas Present Placemats & Skirts

Some of my fondest memories are of times spent with my mom decorating our home for Christmas. Handmade decorations, a large fir tree, fresh holly and magnolia leaves from our yard, and the Statler Brother's Christmas on the stereo were essential to creating the festive mood in our home.

One thing we always had on our dining room and breakfast room tables were special, Christmas placemats that my mom had sewn. Several years ago, I decided to recreate her Christmas Present Placemats and even wrote a tutorial so others could make them, too. This tutorial continues to be one of my most popular tutorials and posts ever!


Since it has been a while since I made a set of these adorable Christmas Present Placemats, I thought it was time to make a few more using all quilting cottons instead of a double-sided quilted fabric. I'm so pleased with the results!

The quilting cotton prints in Blend Fabric's Even a Mouse collection by Maude Asbury were perfect for these new Christmas Present Placemats! I love the Snowball Fight print for the border and cloth napkin that makes the bow, and the Christmas Carolers snowglobe print in red is fun and festive for the main part of the mat. The back of the placemat is sewn with the Let It Snow print in light gray.
(Disclaimer: I was provided the fabrics used in this post in exchange for sharing a project I made with them. All opinions are my own.)


If you'd like to make your own set of Christmas Present Placemats, then click HERE for the full tutorial. Here's a picture of the original one I made years ago. For this one, I used a double-sided quilted fabric for the mat and quilting cotton for the napkin and binding.


If you choose to use quilting cottons instead of double-sided quilted fabric, then you will cut out 2 rectangles measuring 12" x 18" for the front and back of the placement. You will also need to cut out one piece of batting measuring 12" x 18". All other pieces remain the same from the tutorial.

Since I had a some fabric left over from the bundle of fabric from Blend Fabrics, I whipped up a couple of skirts using my Simple One Seam Skirt Tutorial.

For this size 4T skirt, I added a contrasting band to the bottom of the skirt.


For this size 6 skirt, I used the Stocking Stuffers in Grey fabric to make this animal lover's version. My daughter was sad that I didn't have enough fabric to make this one in her size! These are so quick and easy to sew and make gifts for little girls.


Have FUN sewing!