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Monday, March 10, 2014

A sewVery Simple Non-Slip Machine Mat Tutorial

For today's project, I'm pairing up with Craft Buds and Anna Griffin to share with you A sewVery Simple tutorial for making a Non-Slip Machine Mat with pocket storage and a detachable pin cushion.



For a while now, I've been wanting to make myself a new mat to use under my serger.  The old one I have is small, made of fabric that just isn't my style, and doesn't have a place for a pin cushion.  So, when Lindsay (my friend from Craft Buds) asked me if I wanted to make something using these cheerful and bright Maisie by Maude Asbury fabrics from Anna Griffin, I knew just what to make!

Disclosure:  The quilting fabrics used for this post were provided free of charge, but all opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Want to make your own non-slip machine mat with a matching pin cushion?  Here's how!

Supplies:

2 fat quarters of quilting cotton
1 - 12 1/4" x 18" piece of grip stop fabric (I purchased mine at Joann's)
1 - 4" long piece of 1" wide velcro
1 yard of light weight Pellon interfacing (I used Pellon P44F, but Pellon 911F would work great).
Batting or Fiber Fill
Scissors, Ruler, Marking Pen, Pins, Iron, Thread, Sewing Machine

Cut:

From one fat quarter:
3 - 5" x 18" pieces (1 is the pocket front, 1 is the pocket back, and 1 is part of the mat back)
2 - 3" x 4" pieces (for the pin cushion)

From interfacing:
1 - 18" x 18" piece
1 - 5" x 18" piece
2 - 3" x 4" pieces

Assembly:

Start by fusing the 18" x 18" piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the remaining fat quarter. Next, fuse the 5" x 18" piece of interfacing to the wrong side of the pocket front.

To assemble the non-slip machine mat, follow the instructions in the photographs below:






To construct the pin cushion:



And there you have it!  A sewVery Simple Non-Slip Machine Mat!  I wish I made a new one sooner. The non-slip backing is perfect for keeping the mat in place and preventing the machine from vibrating close to the edge.  Plus, the pockets are ideal for storing my scissors, cleaning brush, extra needles, and the allen wrench I use to unscrew the needles from my machine.


The narrow pin cushion with velcro on the bottom keeps the pin cushion in place while I sew instead of it vibrating off the table.  Plus, I have the option to remove it and take it to the ironing board or to my cutting mat when I need it.


I have very limited space in my sewing room, so my sewing machine and serger both sit on the same table but at right angles to one another.

My sewing machine has a knee peddle for raising the sewing machine foot, plus, my table has a drawer right under the machine.  Also, my sewing machine is made of all metal and very heavy, so it does not slip and slid around on the table like my serger, making the non-slip mat unnecessary. But all my sewing gadgets and tools seem to pile up to the right of my sewing machine (which is just left of my serger) making it cluttered and messy and sometimes difficult to find things or sew on the serger.

This is the first glimpse into my sewing space that I have ever posted!

So, I decided to make a smaller companion non-slip mat to sit to the right of my sewing machine. It also has a detachable pin cushion and two rows of pockets.


Since this smaller mat does not have a heavy machine to sit on it to keep it secure, I decided to hand stitch it to the edge of the non-slip serger mat where the edges meet.


I'm so excited to now have such pretty organization mats to use at my sewing table.  Now I think I'll make a couple of machine covers to match using the Maisie by Maude Asbury fabrics from Anna Griffin.

Here are the fabric details and links for the prints I used to make these sewVery Simple Non-Slip Machine Mats!

Front Pocket, Back Piece, one side of Pin Cushion:  Ma Maisie Stitch Grape
Back Pocket and one side of Pin Cushion: Ma Maisie Clover Grape
Fabric Collection:  Maisie by Maude Asbury

Want to win some of your own Maisie fabrics plus some other fun sewing stuff?  Then be sure to enter my 1,500+ Facebook Fans Giveaway going on now HERE!  

Also, be sure to visit my friend, Lindsay, at Craft Buds to check out all of her amazing projects and tutorials and to see the Pretty Petals Pillow she made with her Anna Griffin fabrics!  

Have fun sewing!

11 comments:

  1. What a good idea! Even though I have a magnetic pin cushion thing I always end up just throwing the pins on the table while I serge then come back later to grab them. One of these would save that step and keep the serger in place when I'm going full speed ahead! :)

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  2. Awesome love the fabric and thanks for the tutorial... Linda

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  3. Great tutorial. This would be good for me. My pins end up everywhere, then I need to find them with a magnet.

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  4. What a great idea!! I love it and the pin cushion and pockets will save so much time hunting for scissors and such..Thanks sooo much!!

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  5. How cute is that? But, I have to admit, it never occurred to me before that a serger would need a non-slip mat! LOL Mine has rubber feet on it! Woot Janome!! Anyway, this is super cute, for those of you with wiggly sergers.

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  6. I love it!!! I may need to make a few - my goal is to do some major renovations on the sewing room this summer!

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  7. Those fabrics are so bright and cheery, I love it!

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  8. Great idea! I think I need one - I'm the opposite of you, my serger doesn't move around much but my machine slips and slides all over the place!

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  9. Did I miss it>>>where /how do you attach the nonsllp part?

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    1. It's shown above and referred to as the back. You sew the cotton back piece and the non slip fabric piece together first then assemble the front with the pocket as shown and described on the photos. Then in the 6th photo which is a collage, it shows you placing the back on top of the front with rst. Hope this helps!

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  10. I know it has been forever, but I scheduled a post on the Craft Buds blog for this Friday to feature this! Thank you!

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