I remember when the chalkboard paint started showing up everywhere and was SUPER expensive. I remember desperately wanting to coat my world in it, so I could write on EVERYTHING. But I didn’t. Too cost prohibitive, covering EVERYTHING in expensive paint.
But now there is FABRIC that is chalkboard! The teacher in me just jumps with joy and my OCD tendencies love that I can make LABELS for EVERYTHING and then CHANGE MY MIND! I could even make a suit out of it. Why you would want to, I don’t know. But you could. :)
But being the conservative that a busy mother of twin 17 month olds (goodness… time flies) MUST be with her time, I have not made anything extravagant. Nope. Since the boys are in the drawing on the world phase, I thought it would be perfect for them. And we are trying to learn table manners (insert lots of laughter on your part here), so I thought placemats would be great. Plus, there are tons of great examples out there! So here are mine:
They aren’t the most perfect in the world, but I love them. The stripe looks good with my kitchen. I learned a lot from making them. Wanna know a secret? DON’T use double fold SINGLE width bias tape on something that you can’t stitch rip without making holes. This WILL go poorly. Especially if said fabric prefers to move through your machine with the help of a Teflon foot. AND you’ve decided to line up stripes too. There was much… noise. (Let’s be honest. Swearing like a sailor. Thank heavens the kids were in bed.)
So on to the inspiration:
Really, if you want to do it right, do it with Smashed Peas and Carrots. Her tutorial HERE is the awesomeness. Seriously. And make sure you check out the comments where Alyssa shares her idea for using iron-on vinyl and adding a ribbon to tie it up and take it to restaurants. BRILLANT! ----Now I’ve got to go make more! :)
While you can get your oilcloth or laminated cotton at Amazon, where I LOVE this one:
Amazon doesn’t do chalkcloth. So you’ll need to check the OilCloth Addict. And while you are there, check out her awesome tutorials. I simply MUST make the gardening tool carrier. She’s got a fabulous etsy store that she’s CONSTANTLY adding things to.
My set of placemats are not currently available for sale, though I plan on doing custom ones with fabulous details. And definitely some that roll up and some other fun options. Those I have REALLY nifty ideas for!
And don't forget! I'm gonna give away one of the items from this month's inspirations on June 1st! All you have to do is:
1. Become a Follower of StressTheSeams
2. Comment on one of the posts this month telling me what you would love to win!
International readers will have to pay their own shipping, but American followers will get it for free!
I'll close entries at 1am eastern standard time on June 1st and use the fabulous random number generator to select one wonderful winner. The prize will be a surprise for the reader, but I might just be looking at what they say....hint, hint! :)
So go become a follower and comment! And there will be other ways to get extra entries as the month goes on, so don't miss a day!
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