Bree's Tea Mat

Quick lesson for a quick mat.

 Once you have your colours planned and circles cut,

 this will stitch up quickly. 

If you are an Outlander fan...

 I spied a mat on Brianna's table...that was my inspiration.

With large pennies this mat finishes at a nice size of

 15.5" side to side, or 18" point to point.

 My base pennies are 37 x 2.5 inch, 

with 7 x 2 inch, 

and 30 x 1 inch

 centered on each 2.5" penny.

Review this photo for my planned use of 

colour and layout 

of the 2" and 1" pennies.

 I used approximately 65 yards of #10 crochet cotton.

Stitched on a very light fabric for the backing. 

At first I thought it was too lightweight,

but then I really enjoyed working on it 

 and will likely use this weight again. 

I did not line this mat to cover the backside hiding my stitches,

 I simply turned a 3/4" hem.

 

Bree's Tea Mat before pressing, 

"stitched in the wild"...as in...no iron at hand.

It's a bit rumply, I was away from my studio 

whilst working on this one.

 Here I folded my base fabric in half and then again, (sorry no photo) to find the center,
and began with the center stack.

Stitches completed,

 I laid 3/4" masking tape carefully around the mat, 

and cut away the excess fabric.

The tape is a quick easy way to achieve an even edge.

 The tape is 3/4" wide, which made the perfect hem when folded.

As mentioned, the base fabric is very thin.

You may like to use 1" tape. 

You can always trim it back further if need be.

(I do recommend pressing your mat on the reverse 

before you tape the edges and trim.)

Trim away excess fabric,

 remove the tape, 

then fold and press a hem to the reverse side.

 

 Here is a close up of blind stitching the folded hem, 

on the reverse of mat. 

Shown with a 3/4" applique pin.

Now to find an iron. Light pressing is in order....

 

and done! 

 

 

Keep on stitching!

Colleen