Felt project - Table mats

I found an amazing felt project at How about orange couple days ago and my fingers were itching to try it. I am a huge fan of geometric shapes and simple lines so this project was MUST HAVE for me. Below are some pictures and steps how I created these. Visit How about orange to find more details as well as download perfect pattern.

There is only 1 thing I have added to this project and that's underlay / lining support, which makes mats firmer and more durable. I applied iron on thick vliseline. You can buy it in local shop with fabrics or some bigger craft shops. 

Step by step:

1. Cut squares as per pattern using 'stanley knife' or use scissors. I've found scissors to work better with soft felt, however stanley knife is more accurate. Before cutting fasten each square with a pin.

2. Begin insert corner pieces through the slots in the middle

3. Connect as many squares as you want. You can create small coaster, table mats or even carpet! That will be my next project :) 

4. Trim off the excess felt around the edges and cut off the points of the triangular tabs to create nice geometric shape. Iron on thick vliseline on the back side. This will also straighten edges on the other side and will make mats looks neat and tidy.

5. Woohoo, all done! :)

DIY Dog Bed

If you have a dog you know how hard is to keep his bed clean at all times. My dog Floo has several pillows and I wash these almost every week! I have quite small washing machine and sometimes it's difficult to get rid of all the dirt as pillows are quite huge :-/ That's why I decided to sew a pillow case that I can easily remove and wash properly anytime it's necessary. 

What you need:
- 2 rectangles of durable fabric such as denim, corduroy, or heavy cotton
- 4 side rectangles (as on picture)
- fiberfill stuffing or previously used dog pillow (in my case),
- zip 16-18 inches long
- sewing machine & polyester or cotton thread
- scissors, chalk and ruler

Instructions:
1. Measure pillow first. My pillow is 65 cm long, 60 cm wide and 10 cm high. 
2. Cut two large rectangles ( length x width ) and 4 side rectangles ( 2 rectangles = length x height and 2 rectangles = width x height ) from desired fabric as per below picture:

3. Pin and sew all side rectangles together to create large "square". If you want to make the project easier use only 1 long stripe for sides instead of cutting 4 smaller rectangles. I personally think the pillow looks better when sides are created from 4 individually cut rectangles.

4. Pin and sew this "square" with one large rectangle together. Make sure right sides of fabric face each other. For added durability, create a second row of stitches right inside the first row of stitches.

When you turn right side out you should have now clean edges like this on each side:

5. Pin and sew sides of "square" to the other rectangle. Leave 1 shorter side open. We will add a zipper to this side shortly.

6. If zip is shorter than width of the pillow, sew few cm/inches from each side.

7. Sew the last piece of "square" and zipper together using a zip footer. Make sure you leave a zip half open so you can turn right side out through it when you're finished! 

8. Turn your case right-side-out and fill it with a pillow. And that's it! You have just created easy-to-remove, machine washable pet bed!

If you have any question about the project or any recommendation and useful links please leave a comment! Thanks!!