My daughter has a special spot. She calls it, “My Special Spot”. This little spot has prompted today’s DIY No Sew Rest Mat Tutorial. It is only in recent weeks that Lily Kate has claimed this little nook. It’s the area of floor between the couch on one side, the bookcase and firewood box on the other and the wall to the back. Lately when l notice she’s not running around like a crazy kid and I go in search of her, I find her hanging out in her “Special Spot”. She uses her spot to read, to think, to just kind of chill. Well I thought that since she chose to sit on the floor, perhaps a nice rest mat would be a good thing to add to her spot. So off we went to Wal-Mart to grab some materials needed to create a simple rest mat. And here’s how I created it.
1. First a simple list of supplies needed.
1″ Project Foam, 1 1/3 yd fleece fabric, ruler, scissors, Sharpie Marker. ( all available at Walmart)
2. Cut Project Foam to size needed. Here I simply cut the foam in half making a 24″ x 36″ foam mat. Trim the ugly selvage off the edge of your fleece and lay the foam in the center of the fabric, about 3.5″ from one end. Fold the edges of the fleece over the back of the foam. You will have a few inches of overlap. This overlap will not be sewn shut so that you can remove the foam and wash the fleece cover at anytime it is needed.
3. Trim about 6″ off the other end of the fleece and save it. This will be your tie for storing the mat. Set aside.
3. Here’s a quick tip: Mark on your scissors using the Sharpie Marker the depth you’d like your fringe to be, in this case 3″. Then when it comes time to cut the fringe you will have an even cut every time simply by lining up the mark on the top of the scissor blade. And don’t worry – just a bit of rubbing alcohol takes the mark right off!
4. Begin to cut the fringe approximately 1″ wide and 3″ deep.
5. Cut the final piece up at the very end to create the final pieces of fringe. Repeat on opposite end. Tie fringe pieces together, top to bottom, to hold in place. When you reach the overlapping areas, simply tie two top pieces and one bottom piece of fringe. It’s more difficult but it holds the pieces together well and keeps that overlap nice and smooth.
6. Once you have finished tying up the ends, roll up the DIY No Sew Rest Mat and tie it with the excess fleece you set aside earlier.
As you can see I think Lily Kate loves her new “Special Spot Mat”. She even rolled it up herself and tied the fleece! She then proceeded to bring the mat to soccer practice so she could have somewhere to sit while we watched her sister practice. That right there convinced me that leaving the overlapping area in the back was a great idea….I have a feeling I will be washing this mat cover often in the coming months!
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