Picnic Placemat and Utensil Holder

I finally returned to my Stitch by Stitch book to work on the next project, listed as a picnic placement with pockets to hold utensils. Of course, my first thought was that it would make a nice holder for knitting needles.

I delayed this project for a while. It calls for 60" and 20" of 3" wide bias tape. Out of the fat quarter I was using, I was able to get the 60" piece but there was not enough left for 20". So I had to wait until I got back to the store to pick up more of the same fabric. I finally did that and then looked at the instructions. I needed two 18" squares of the coordinating fabric. I had also picked up just a fat quarter for it, which obviously was not enough, so that created the need for another trip to the store to buy yet more fabric. (I think the reason I thought fat quarters would be enough is because in the middle of this project description is a side bar with information about fat quarters so I assumed that was what was being used for this project. Once I looked back at the supply list, I now realize that is not the case.)

So finally I had my bias tape and my two 18" squares in a coordinating fabric. And here's one big lesson I learned in this project. Coordinating fabric does not need to be super matchy. That's what I have and there's really no contrast. One fabric really just blends into the other and it's not very appealing to the eye. Next time I do a project like this (or really any project), I'll make sure to make different fabric choices.

I had no problems at first, at least nothing really big. I got the first edge with bias tape put into place. I did have a little mistake here in not completely catching a 1 inch section of the bias tape when I was stitching the ditch (a new technique for me). I also had a similar problem in two areas on the larger piece of bias tape. So that's something I'm going to need to work on in the future: making sure my bias tape is positioned correctly.

I did forget to leave 2" of bias tape at the beginning of the long section (to later fold over to create a smooth edge), so that edge is a little rough. But turning the corners worked out nicely, so I was happy about that.

The other thing that I learned while making this project is that I don't like making bias tape. At least I hate folding it in and pressing it. The size called for in this pattern is not one that I have a bias tape maker for so I couldn't try that (I have 1", 1/2", and 1/4" -- this called for something close to 1.5"). Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad if I had been able to use one of those. I looked at etsy and noticed there are people who sell bias tape. It seems almost worth it to buy it rather than make it myself. But that's a sewing skill that it seems is important to learn as so many of the projects I have ear marked seem to call for its use, so I guess I'll just keep practicing with it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to use this for yet. Right now I have some of Luke's stuff in it (tubes of Vaseline, tube of lanolin, tube of diaper cream), which seems to fit nicely.