Friday, September 4, 2009

Placemat Tote/Scripture Tote

I've seen a few of these online, but I couldn't ever find a tutorial on how to do the sides/bottom . . . and I got tired of looking, so I got brave and experimented on my own. . .
Supplies
-placemat (I got mine at Wal-Mart for under $2)
-sewing machine
-ribbon
-embelishments

Steps
  1. fold your placemat in half and notch out 1.5" on each corner (unfolded, you'll have a 1.5"x3" rectangle cut out of the middle of each side
  2. measure and cut the ribbon for the decoration and handles (measurments will depend on how long you want your handles)
  3. on the front of the placemat, sew the handles on first, then sew on the ribbon stripe to cover the edges of the handle on each end
  4. fold right sides together and sew down both sides of the placemat
  5. with the bag inside out, fold each notched corner together so if forms a straight line and sew that line closed (making a boxed corner)
  6. turn right side out and enjoy!

Optional - you can add more embelishments - I added a fake flower to the front by hand stitching it into place.

This bag fit my scriptures and hymn book perfectly!

7 comments:

  1. I found your blog one day thru another blog...and now love popping in every now and then to see what you come up with...I love this idea. Would have never thought of using a place mat. I have been actually trying to think how to make me a cute tote for my scriptures as well. Hubby is been waiting for him to make him a scripture tote too. Thanks for sharing this. Yours tote looks awesome.

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  2. That is amazing! A placemat into a scripture case!! So thifty! And it looks SUPER CUTE!!! Great job and thanks for showing us how to do one. I'll have to try this!

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  3. That is SO cute... and so easy, I am pretty sure even I can accomplish it! Thanks for the tutorial.

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  4. So, you're LDS, too?! We're doing this for our Super Saturday next month. I had never seen it before! Yours is adorable! I can't wait to make one for myself.

    Angee
    dressesandmesses.wordpress.com

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  5. Thank you so much for this great tutorial. I just made this for a baptism gift for an 8yr old (I'm just afraid that my dd will come home from school and want one for her scriptures). I live in small town America so I only had Wal-Mart, so I have the exact same place mat!! Thanks again, you did a great job, always nice to stumble across other 'sisters in Zion'.---Tiffany in Tx.

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  6. Thanks be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! I believe I will attempt this! I like the simplicity of it.

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  7. Thank you so much! I just made 2 of these tonight for my boys. I used placemats from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and they look GREAT and so easy to sew. I really appreciate you posting this!

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