Most days and meals Violet (and Henry) set the table. This is how it looks most of the time...
Nothing fancy. Very practical. My mom made us these place mats. They have been used over and over and over for mostly every meal for about three years now. All except for this one, which I have had since I was a child.
They are painted Plexiglas. They are perfect. Wipeable, sturdy and fun. Yes, they get a bit scratched, but we don't mind. These are our daily place mats.
But, sometimes, on the rare occasion that we decide to pull out the "good china" and make a "fancy meal", they seem a bit drab.
What to do?
Well, thanks to Rachael and Kelley and their first project from "Merrily We Sew Along", projects from Improv Sewing, I've got some beautiful and simple linen placemats to use.
I used some Essex Linen in Leather (leftover from my pumpkin pillow) to make the place mats. In order to prevent constant fringing every time they go through the wash, I did a quick (read: not perfect because I was going too fast) zig zag stitch in cream about 1/4" from the edges. I then went around two more times with red, made a little box at the corners, and then around once again in cream and a half a box at the corners.
They fringed up perfectly after their go around in the wash. The colors are perfect for fall, but will be equally suited for all other seasons as well with the simple red and white borders. Violet was concerned that we wouldn't be able to see all of the stitching, but that's the beauty with the border stitching...you can't miss it!
Now, I'd say that's a table worthy of a fancy occasion!
Now, what's for dinner?
