Burlap Placemats

Burlap is a common and inexpensive fabric that isn't terribly glamorous. However, I really like the texture of it and think it pairs well with the linen napkins, from my last post, to spice up your holiday or every day dining table.

This time of year there are lots of different colors of burlap available, some even have a little bit of sparkle in them. They are perfect for making some quick and easy place mats. Just stitch around each place mat with a half inch allowance and leave the edges a little bit frayed for a more rustic feel.

Materials

2 yds of 44/45" wide burlap (makes 8 placemats)
scissors
sewing machine
iron
thread

Directions

Burlap is an interesting fabric with a rather strong odor when you first purchase it. Wash and dry it, maybe even a couple of times, to get rid of the odor and any loose fibers. Once it's clean, press it with a hot iron.

Do not begin cutting your burlap until you have enough time to complete the rest of the project. It starts fraying quickly so the less you handle the cut pieces, the better.

You are going to cut your burlap into eight, 14x20 inch rectangles.

	If you have never cut burlap before there's a trick to getting a straight line. Slide a straight pin under a strand of the fabric about 1/2 inch from the raw edge.
	Lift the strand loose.
	Gently pull the entire strand out of the fabric.
	Once the strand is out, you have a nice gap in the weaving. Just cut down this gap across the fabric.
	Machine stitch 1/2 inch from the edge all the way around each place mat. I used a triple stretch stitch so that the edges will be very secure.
	Gently pull out the loose strands of burlap from the edges of the place mats.
	The corners will look like this. If you want your place mats to have fuzzier edges, machine wash and dry them. If you want the edges to remain like those in the picture, hand wash and lay flat to dry.