OLFA Art Knife: Graphic Placemats

Use the Olfa Art Knife to create intricate applique shapes for a graphic lettered placemat. Emily Steffen shows you how!

To make this applique letter placemat, you will need two 11”x17” rectangles of fabric for the placemat front and back, an 11”x17” rectangle for the lettering, and eight 2” strips for the edging, to attach to each raw edge of the placemat front and back. Attach fusible web to the lettering rectangle wrong side.

Emily discusses how to create and print the lettering template. Using the Olfa Art Knife curved carving blade, Emily demonstrates how to cut through the paper template and fabric to accurately cut out the fabric letter appliques. The curved blade lets you gently rock the blade into the corners to achieve a precise cut. When cutting out letters with an inner portion, such as an A or R, cut out the inner portion first for stability.

Emily then demonstrates how to remove the fusible web paper backing from the letters and use the remaining paper template to perfectly align the cut-out letters onto the placemat.

Press to fuse the letters in place, then stitch the perimeter of each letter. Emily uses a straight stitch, but you can use a zigzag, blanket, or other applique stitch if desired.

Stitch the edging strips onto the long edges of the placemat front and back with the right sides together using a ¼” seam allowance. Press the seam allowances toward the edging strips. Repeat to stitch edging strips onto the short edges of the placemat front and back.

With right sides together, stitch the placemat perimeter, leaving a 3” opening along one short edge. Clip the corners and turn the placemat right side out. Press, then edgestitch the perimeter to close the opening.