Needlework Tuesday - I'm seeing white

Yes, I am seeing white, but it's not snow, it's white table cloth fabric and trim.  While I was visiting my aunt and uncle in October, my sister volunteered me to stitch some mats for their tables. After pondering the challenge, I decided on the materials and techniques to use.

I purchased some white table cloth fabric.  It's really wide, so a half metre gave me lots to play with (in case of mistakes). I also purchased eight metres of trim.

You've probably seen table runners and place mats where the trim has shrunk and pulled in the edges of the mat. Looks awful.  I didn't want that to happen and knew I would need to pre-wash the trim. The tag didn't tell me anything helpful.  One natural fibre and one man-made. Well, I knew I had to wash it and deal with the results.  I put all the trim in a large bowl of warm water, swished it around and left it for about 20 minutes.  Then I drained the water, squeezed out some more and then laid it out on a towel in a spiral so I didn't have any folds.  I measured it afterward and it was still approximately the same length. I was surprised.

I made a paper template and cut out the oval shapes I wanted.  My first thought was to zigzag the edges and add the trim over top.  That didn't work as it resulted in a fuzzy mess. Instead, I stitched the trim on the inside edge to the wrong side of the fabric lining it up along the edge. Then I trimmed the fabric back about half way to the stitching line. In the photo above you can see at the right, the edges of the trim peeking out. Then I folded the trim to the front and stitched it down once again, along the inside edge.  Now the cut edge of the fabric is nicely enclosed and no more fraying.

I tried to take a photo of the finished mat, but it's just a blur of white.

I have a few more to make and then will be sending them off to my aunt.

This was a more fussy project than I thought it would be, but I decided that it would be worth my effort to take my time and work through it. I am most pleased with the end result.  Some projects I do are easy and don't require me to pay too much attention and others are like this, where I have to either pin every inch or carefully place every stitch.  Which ever type it is, I enjoy it all.  If I'm not enjoying myself, then I am doing something wrong.  Stitching is my hobby and that means it should be fun for me.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

Mister Linky is waiting below for a link to your current needlework project.  Last week's linky is still open for your Advent Calendar projects.