Crafts,  Painting

DIY Monogramed Placemats

Over the holidays we had pretty Christmas placemats on the table and once they were put away the table looked a little bare. So the only practical thing to do was to make some.  Now, I have never made placemats, but that never stopped me before. I have made table runners from drop cloths (CanadianTire.ca Bennett Canvas Drop Sheets #049-4818-8) so same steps apply, just a different size. I only have a few pieces of drop cloth left over from when I made drapes with painted stripes, and did a quick measurement to make sure there was enough. Eureka!

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Looks like enough

Since I had previously washed and ironed I got to work. First I measured a placemat I had on hand and decided the finished size would be 16 x 12 inches. So I cut the material into four 18 x 14 pieces. That would leave an inch all the way around for a hem.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
So far so good

I took each one to the ironing board and folded one inch all the way around and ironed it really crisp.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Hemming with an iron

Since they are going to be painted, and they can’t be washed, I decided to use hot glue for the hem instead of sewing it. Here is a picture of the back with the hem turned and glued. I also cut the corners on an angle so they wouldn’t be so bulky.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
The back of the placemat

With all four placemats “hemmed”, it was time for paint. For this I used my trusty old painters tape. I used the edge of the placemat for placement of the tape. Then a second piece of tape about 1/4 inch in. I didn’t measure, just eyeballed it.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Taping off for painting

Then it was time for paint…

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Used black latex paint

With the top and bottom lines painted black and after they dried, I did the same thing to the sides.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Looks straight

Once all of the tape was removed this is what I had…

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Getting there

Now it was time for the monogram. I went online and found a website that allows you to enter the initials you wish to use and select the design. Then I printed out a couple of copies.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Initials for monograming

Using a small square of tracing paper, I again eyeballed the center of the placemat and placed the tracing paper and my monogram pattern in place.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Ready to trace

Here is the result.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Can you see it?

I had planned to use a paint brush for the lettering but after a few minutes I switched to the black paint pen. I think it only took about an hour to trace out the pattern and paint all four placemats.

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
Monogramed placemats

And here they are…

DIY monogramed placemats,painters drop cloths,painting drop cloths
So easy to make

Jim said he really liked them and was wondering if we would be moving them off the table to eat. Ha. No. These are our new everyday placemats. Well except for spaghetti night.

While I was at it, I had painted this piece of material earlier in the year and planned to use it for a pillow covering, but I don’t really need another pillow covering. I decided to use the “hemming” process like for the placemats and make it into a table runner.

diy table runner,drop cloths,painted stripes
New runner for the coffee table

There you have it. The possibilities are endless using these painters drop cloths. So far…drapes, Christmas stockings, 2 pillow covers3 table runners, stool covers, and now placemats.

Later

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