DIY Clutch Purse

It popped into my head the other day that I used to make purses out of placemats ALOT when I was a kid - one question I have as an adult is 'did my mom know I was doing this and if not, did she ever wonder where her placemats were disappearing to?' LOL - I saw this one at Target and it was just asking to be turned into a summer clutch (some people might see a place to put their plate haha but I see purse!).  This is a super easy sewing project and if your kid can sew a straight line it'll be a perfect craft for them too - it's literally a folded placemat sewed on both sides and velcro or a snap to close if you want. Check out how simple and fast this is:

 

this placemat is 14"x19". I folded the bottom third up about 7" and pinned the sides to keep the edges straight. Sew right along the edge on both sides to create an envelope. 

I added velcro squares to keep the clutch closed, snaps would also work

Chair Back Covers

My kitchen and dining room have a lot of the same color wood (floor, cabinets, island, dining chairs) and I've been trying to come up with ways to break it up a bit - without having to re-stain or paint it! I have a rug under the table and that helps a little, now I'm thinking maybe if I had covers for the backs of the chairs it would help...

I found 2 ruffled linen table runners at Home Goods for $15 each - they are so pretty it took me a few days to get up the nerve to cut them! I don't have anywhere else to use them tho, so that made it easier for me to bite the bullet and just do it already.


 Initially I was going to cut each runner in 3 pieces because I have 6 chairs, but when I held up about 12" or so of material to get an idea of what it would look like,  it seemed like it was going to look like grandma doily chair covers or something, not cool. They weren't long enough that way - so I cut them in half and I'll either use 4 of them and leave 2 chairs plain, or I'll use 3 of them and do every other chair.

hemming the correct way...

After cutting in half I had 2 open ends to hem. For the first one I did it the "correct" way and turned the runner inside out, sewed the opening shut leaving a 2 inch gap, turned it right side out and stitched up the little opening. Wasn't hard at all and didn't take much time...then I realized that no one can see the end that I cut so why bother with all that! For the other 3 I just rolled the edge under twice and topstitched it. Just made an easy project that much easier!

and hemming the lazy way!

The finished project. Now I just have to decide if I like them tucked into the back of the chair or the front.