Dear Heather: I got 5 of these awesome place mats at Pearl River Market in NYC for $2.75 each They’re made of felt and the cut-outs are beautiful. When I got them I thought I’d attach it to some black suede I have laying around with spray adhesive and make a purse out of it but I’m not too sure how that would work with the cut-outs and I’m coming up short on any other inspiration, maybe your readers could help. I’d be willing to send you one if you’d like so you could make and post anything that you might come up with.
Thanks in advance,
Cheryl
Thanks for your question, Cheryl! I think you are on the right track, as long as you use enough spray adhesive and you take care to press every section of the placemat down well when you’re adhering it to the suede. If you’re looking for purses to make with your placemat, here are a few ideas:
You could skip the pleating and just use the ring purse handles.
The envelope fold would work well with your rectangular placemat.
If you want to use two placemats, this would be cute. Or, make a jumbo tote bag and use the placemat for the pocket. Then you would have the option to line the cutout placemat or leave it without a lining.
Readers: what would you do with this placemat?
16 Comments
Shelley
Those would make a gorgeous wall hanging group or design for a headboard!
Stacy
I would love one of those to work with a clear vase I got at IKEA a while ago. It would be neat to use it as a stencil for etching on the glass, or even using it as paint stencil. You could also use it as a background on a scrapbook page.
Liz Morton
You could use them in scrapbooking for background. Put paper over it and make an imprint like embossing.
Jenni
I love those! Very pretty. I think it would be cool to frame them with a mirror behind them and hang them on a wall. Or perhaps use on a lamp shade? Your purse idea would be cute too. I’m not that great with a sewing machine though. I’d love to see whatever you decide to do.
Good luck!
Emily
Ooh! Pretty!! Contrasting fabric/paper underneath, fold in half for a journal type cover.
If you are crazy cool (or just crazy) you can fold it into fourths and seal/stitch into a square for a vase cover (or just use as a vase for fake flowers).
rhonda
Have you ever seen a spinning candle shade? They have blades (kind of like a fan) at the top and the rising warm air makes it turn. Or you could wrap it around a large hurricane to make a holder for a pillar candle. I bet they would look awesome with light shining through them!
Jennifer Herring
That would look cool on a lamp shade!
Martha
You could take a nice contrasting color of material, sew some pockets for jewelry or makeup brushes and then attach it to the placemat. Add ribbons to the end, roll up your jewelry or makeup brushes inside and tie it off.
You could also make pillows, again attached to material in complimenting colors.
You could, again add material to it and handles, for a casserole dish carrier.
You could just drape them over the arm of a the sofa or chair.
Line them up and make a beautiful table runner.
I made a monitor cover(flat screen) using a decorative placemat and extra material I had around the house.
Good Luck and it would be nice to know what you do with them! They’re very pretty!
Elisha
I would connect all placemats together and make a funky wall hanging personally. XD
Aline
What I would do is put 3 of them together along the short side with the adhesive on a co-ordinating piece of material as a table runner, and use the other 2 as placemats with the same material under them. This looks like it would make a GREAT Valentine table setting for 2.
J. Hill
I think they could make very cool shades for hanging pendant lamps. The kits are pretty cheap at warehouse stores.
Songbirdtiff
I was thinking this would be great for pendant lamps, too. I’d love one of these for the lamps I have!
Amber
Use it as a spraypaint stencil. Get fabric spraypaint and you can have the pattern on any number of shirts, purses, table runners, potholders, etc.
Cut out individual sections then you can sew them onto anything fabric or glue them onto things like vases, journals, etc.
More Than A Mom
I like the idea of individual frames with black or white backgrounds to make a nice wall display.
If you choose to make a purse, can you purchase clear iron-on vinyl to put over top of it so it doesn’t lift?
Can’t wait to see what you make out of it!
Rachel Ramey
That is gorgeous! I like the original idea, actually (‘though I think I would try to at least tack it down with stitching in a couple of places, ’cause I’m not sure I’d trust the spray adhesive by itself). I think it would be amazing with black suede.
They would make pretty insets for something, too – wooden boxes, drawer fronts, etc.
Peaches
I love that thick felt for all kinds of purposes! I have a similar heart shaped place mat hanging on my wall –I use it as a bulletin board. I use pearl headed dress pins instead of thumbtacks. Perhaps you could duct tape five in a row to make one long strip…like running down a hallway, or in an odd nook/on a door/etc. Good find! Have fun!