Fat Quarter Club Subscription: Placemat and Coaster
February 2023
This month’s My Guilty Pleasure Fat Quarter Club subscription box from Little Miss Sew n Sew was a great reminder that spring is peeking its head round the corner. February’s make is a placemat and coaster which are sure to freshen up your table ready for those brighter days ahead. Here’s how I found this month’s kit, as well as few tips that might help along the way.
Bloomin’ marvellous box
As with each monthly box, the fabric is picked to suit the season and I was delighted to see some tell-tale bunny ears peeking out from the selection of fat quarters. Arriving through my letterbox this month was:
- 3x fat quarters from the ‘Spring Hare’ collection by Lewis and Irene
- Placemat and Coaster pattern sheet and instructions exclusively designed for Little Miss Sew ‘n’ Sew by Sew Cosy Patterns
- Stitch ‘n’ tear stabiliser
- Wadding
- A sweet treat
There’s enough fabric included to make 1 placemat and enough stabiliser and wadding to create 1 coaster. It’s possible to use the same front and back fabrics on both your coaster and placemat if you take a measured approach. If you’re a fan of having leftover fabric to add to your stash, then using the fabric in this way will also mean you’ll have 1 full fat quarter left over.
Hop to it
There’s a fair bit of prep work to do before you put your foot on the pedal, so here’s a list of tools you’ll want to have to hand to speed things up:
- Complementing and contrasting cotton thread – both the coaster and the placemat feature topstitching and it’s a good opportunity to use a decorative stitch if your sewing machine has them (mine doesn’t, so a standard stitch is fine!)
- Fabric scissors and general scissors – one set for cutting your paper pattern and another for cutting your fabric
- Tailor’s chalk or disappearing fabric pen – you’ll want a colour that will stand out against the busy fabric as you’ll be tracing the placemat pattern to indicate your sewing guide lines
- Pins – useful to mark the gap you’ll need to leave on both the placemat and coaster so you can pull your work through once sewn up
- Ruler – you’ll be measuring out 3x rectangles for the back of your placemat and two rectangular pieces for the back of your coaster (see below)
- Knitting needle or corner shaper – for pushing out those corners, but go gentle to avoid pushing straight through the fabric and making a hole
- Tracing or pattern paper– step 7 of the instructions says to cut into the coaster pattern piece so you can use the circle part to trace directly onto the coaster for your top stitching. Instead of having to cut into the pattern (so I could use it again), I traced the circle on a separate piece of pattern paper
Spring it on
The instructions on this make threw a few people, including myself, so here’s a explainer to help you on your way.
The back piece of your coaster is made up of three individual pieces which are then sewn together, and the back piece of the coaster is made up of two individual pieces which are then sewn together. Why? Well, by doing this it allows you to have a seam on both back pieces which will include a gap in the stitching to pull your work through. This is vital to the construction of the coaster and the placemat at you’d essentially sew the from and back pieces right sides together and then turn them out.
Here's a quick picture tutorial on how you’ll construct these:
Placemat:
- Once you’ve decided which fabric you want as the back of your placemat, cut one piece 35x32cm and two pieces 35x8cm, as per the instruction. The smaller pieces attach to either side with a gap left on one of the seams – I’d recommend leaving a gap of around 1.5-2inch. This picture shows the placement of these pieces before you sew them. Lay the side pieces on top of the large piece right sides together before you sew.
Coaster
- Once you’ve decided which fabric you want as the back of your coaster, cut too pieces 10x18cm as per the instructions. Sew these together along the long edge but leave a gap big 1.5-2inch long. This picture shows the placement of these pieces before you sew them. Lay the side pieces on top of each other, right sides together before you sew.
The verdict
The pattern for both the coaster and the placemat are great to have in your stash for seasonal tables and their scalloped edges are perfect for a spring and summer setting. Like other members of the Fat Quarter Club, I struggled a bit with the start of the pattern as I found the instructions a little tricky to grasp, but I usually find that reading them all the way through to the end a few times gives me a better idea of how the whole thing is constructed. If your sewing machine has different speed settings, then that’ll help when sewing those scalloped edges.
Overall, another nice, cute make which will help to brighten up my surfaces as spring arrives!