Making Placemats With Machine Embroidered Designs

Ruffled Placemat

My new sewing machine comes with quite a few built-in embroidery designs.  When I saw this one, I thought it would make really pretty placemats.  I still think that it would make really pretty placemats.  For someone who knows what they are doing! lol

The machine embroidering thing is something that I'm still trying to figure out.  I'm a quilter.  It is a different set of stuff to know. :-)  The good thing is, I'm learning a lot!

Stabilizer and Kona Cotton Fabric Waiting to be Hooped

The stabilizer I used was pretty stiff.  I thought that would give some structure to the finished placemat. As you can see from the back (below) it puckered around the stitching.  Maybe different stabilizer is the answer? I'm not sure. So I'll do some experimenting and hope that fixes the problem.

After stitching, the stabilizer was cut approximately 1/2" smaller than top of placemat

I measured the circumference of the oval to get a rough idea how much fabric I would need to make a ruffle for it.  There is a ruffler attachment for the machine that is really fun to use.  After making the ruffle, I attached it and then sewed on a black oval back to the placemat.  This is an easy project.  And a good learning experience!