[mauimagic]

A friend of mine gave me a tote she had made from a placemat - and I was hooked!!

I used a tapestry weave place mat from Walgreens ($1.50)

Fold the placemat in half (hamburger style) with wrong sides together. At this point you could sew straight seams. I tucked the bottom edge in on both sides to make a pleat to allow for ease in the bottom, then sew. Add handles - I used grossgrain ribbon. Done!!

Here are the pictures!!

 

[Surilda]

Thanks, MM!

I think this is something even I, a non-sewer, can do!!

How long are your ribbon pieces that you use for your
handles?

This looks like a fun project for a beginning sewer like
me.

Thanks for putting this together....

 

[Libby]

Wow MM that looks awesome! Talk bout not wasting anything!

 

[mauimagic]

I cut my ribbon 14.5 inches - when sewn there are 13 inches of handle showing. Just depends on what you like. Glad you enjoyed this - fun and fast to make!!

 

[mauimagic]

Need to make a correction and it's too late to edit - put the right sides together - not the wrong sides!! Mahalo!!

 

[mamamia]

OMGoodness! The possibilities are endless! I just love it when ideas like this come along, especially for the "craft challenged" people like me! :skept: And ya know what? I have 2 pretty apple green plaid placemats that I had no idea what to do with. Well just lookee what I'm gonna make...:lol3:

Thanks for posting MM!
Theresa

 

[craftypam]

Thanks for this. I bought some really pretty placemats from Walmart on clearance and that is exactly what I wanted to do with them. I needed the tip about the fold in the bottom though. The edge of mine is wavy.

Thanks Pam/B]

PS I am going to put the right sides together because the edge is wavy and the sides are finished anyway

 

[vlmurray]

Amazing, wonderful sharp bottom. Love it!

 

[missyali]

How great is this!??! SO green and it's like getting an extra gift!

 

[mauimagic]

I'm so glad that you are excited as I am about this fun project!! The look is so finished too!! You could make the straps as wide and as long as you wanted!!

 

[YankeeMom]

Adorable!! And they sell those place mats at our Dollar Stores!

 

[nuisance26]

~These would be such cute gift bags! Thanks for the tutorial MM!~

 

[musicalbabe85]

How neat! Thank you for showing this.

 

[mauimagic]

It's so nice to see this pop up again - think I'll look for other seasonal placemats or any frugal placemats to make more for gifts throughout the year!!

 

[BeachFun]

These sound easy to make and would make a great gift bag too. Thanks.

 

[mauimagic]

Decided that I'm going to make these for the baby quilts that I made for twins that a friend had that match the quilts. Need to play around with the size, but am going to use the same principal - make two larger sized placemats and use the same directions!!

 

[Eyre]

Just so so beautiful, you are so talented.

 

[Labontet]

Thanks MM for the idea and the pictures especially. Very good info concerning the corners. Thanks, they look great.

 

[mauimagic]

Never expected to see this again. However, I am still making these because they work so well and look great!

 

[Megareader]

If you buy holiday themed placemats when they are on clearance, the totes could then be a super frugal gift the following year.