Mats to Dry your Dishes

We're pretty much all unpacked and mostly organized.  Still need to hang pictures on walls and things like that, but I can pretty much access all our stuff, including now my sewing machine!

So I took a break from the other wood/ paint projects to sew a quick little eye candy for the kitchen.

Using outdoor fabric and a scuzzy old towel I had been hacking up for these puppets, I made some simple mats to dry dishes that come out of the dishwasher still wet, or those annoying pots/ dishes that have to be hand washed.

I got the idea from Noodlehead HERE. 

She references a tutorial in her post.

I didn't follow the tutorial because mine are specific to my fabric and counter.  The process is quite simple and easy, so I didn't take photos of the steps or anything.

All 3 of mine are different due to scraps making them work.

1. But basically you measure the size of mat you'd like, my little counter area I wanted covered was 1'x2'.

2. Cut out your top fabric, you can do fancy coordinating designs with scraps, or like the center one, just a rectangle.

3. Plop your cute fabric on your old towel and cut them to match.

4.With rights sides together, sew around the rectangle, but leave a few inches un-sewn. Snip the corners off so it will turn easily.

5. Flip the mat right side out, pin the hole shut and top stitch around the edges.

So far they seem to lay flatter and absorb more than my normal dishtowel which used to be there.

They definitely look better too.