I love felt, or really fleece (felt’s cousin). Why? It’s soft, washable, and most projects using it don’t require sewing. Yay!
Plus, fleece is available in tons of colors and patterns. You can find options for any holiday or season!
That’s why fleece was the perfect fabric choice for these simple no-sew DIY placemats.
Placemats are a great way to enhance the look of your dining room or your kitchen table while being very useful at the same time.
The benefit to using fleece for a placemat is its thickness. It adds a nice cushion between your table and plate. Which prevents scratches and minimizes the sound of the plates on the table. And if anything spills on the fleece placemat, you can easily throw it in the wash.
Bonus!
Supplies for No-Sew Fleece DIY Placemat
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- 1-yard fleece (for 8 placemats)
- Bolts are usually 45 or 60 inches
- Scissors and ruler
- Cutting mat
- Optional (rotary cutter & clear ruler)
How to Make DIY Fleece (or Felt) Placemats
Step 1: Prep the Fleece
Prewash your fabric. Be sure to remove it from the dryer before any wrinkles are set.
Step 2: Cut the Felt to Placemat Size
Match the selvage edges. These are the tightly woven edges that run along the top and bottom of the fabric.
Most likely your fabric wasn’t cut straight at the fabric store.
Line the selvage along the edge of your cutting mat. Using a straight edge ruler, trim one side so you have a straight edge. *Note: this is where using a clear ruler is very handy, as you can use the lines as guides to ensure a straight cut.
Now measure 17” from that edge and cut the length of the fabric. Repeat so you have a second piece measuring 17”. With 1 yard of fabric, you will be able to do this twice.
Now measure 13.5” from the bottom and cut. Repeat until you have the desired number of placemats. If you use all your fleece, you should have at least 12 rectangles of fleece.
*If you want simple, plain placemats, you can stop now and start using them.
Step 3: Embellish your Fleece Placemats
I decided to create a design on placemats by cutting out shapes from the fleece. *Note: practice doing this on your fleece scraps, before doing it to your placemats.
How to recreate my felt placemat design
At the top left corner, fold it in half diagonally. Then using a ruler mark 4” from the corner. This will be where the first cut will start. Measure 1” up from there (at 3”). This is where the first cut will end.
Now place small marks at 2.5”, 2”, 1.5”, 1.25”, .75” and .5”. You will cut between the following marks:
- 3”- 4”
- 2.5” – 2”
- 1.5” – 1.25”
- .75” – .5”
Unfold your fabric and create a new fold between the first two cuts. The ones furthest from the corner.
From the center point of those two cuts. Measure .25” on either side, so you have ½” before you start a cut. Then measure .5” from each mark and cut.
Flip over your simple fleece no-sew diy placemats.
Don’t you love it! And no sewing needed!!
Just think how great they will look on your table for your next gathering or dinner party.
Plus, these placemats are so easy to make. Won’t they make a great gift for your friends and family? Time to diy felt placemats!
Take a look at a Simple Fall Table Setting using this and other diy projects.
