Placemat Purse

How to Make the “Placemat Purse”

1.  Purchase a placemat and ribbon.  Tip: sheer ribbon like the one shown is harder to work with.

2.  Fold placemat in half and crease.  This will show you where to star pinning on the ribbon.

3.  Pin on the ribbon in one continuous line (as shown) starting with the top middle of the placemat. That will be the bottom of the purse, so the seam won’t be too obvious.  Tip:  To start, make two small folds in the ribbon so the ribbon won’t frey.  Pin down.

4.  Start pining on the ribbon. I measured 2 1/2 inches from the edge of the placemat to place the ribbon.  Tip: Be sure to leave enough room for the “handles”. When you get to the second handle, fold the placemat in half and follow the first handle so they are equal.  Finish the ribbon by folding the edge once and tucking it under the start of the ribbon (so there’s one seam). Pin in place.

5.  Sew ribbon on with same color thread as the ribbon.  Tip:  sew as close to the edge of the ribbon as possible so it doesn’t look messy.

6.  Fold placemat in half (inside out) and sew the seams together.  Tip:  When making these for the “Red Plate” charger, sew your seams as close to the edge as possible.  Otherwise the plate won’t fit in it.

7.  To give the purse a rectangle “bottom”, fold the bottom edge in a triangle (as shown) and sew.  Do this to both sides.

8.  Pull the purse right out and embellish with a flower, snowflake, ornament, or whatever you’d like!  I put it on the upper right side ribbon, next to the handle.

9.  You’re done!

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