Use a pair of thrifted placemats to make an upcycled DIY bath mat. This craft is budget friendly and can be made in 15 minutes! You can also use this as a small DIY rug for any area of your home.
Skills Required: Beginner. You’ll use a needle and thread for this project exclusively. If you aren’t happy with your hand sewing technique, you might want to practice a bit, just so you get neat lines.
The linen rack is one of the sections I check religiously whenever I’m at the thrift store. And when I came across a complete set of these woven placemats, I knew I wanted to bring them home.
But not for their intended purpose.
They weren’t going to go on the table. Because with four children, I need more than two placemats. I had other ideas though!
Instead I stitched a couple together to add a splash of color – a DIY bath mat for one of our barely used bathrooms. Why spend a lot of money when you don’t have to?
DIY Bathroom Mat
Gather These Supplies
- Placemats – two
- Embroidery thread – colorful!
- Sewing needle
- Scissors
Plan Your Design
Start by making sure the placemats are washed and laying flat. Iron them if necessary. Lay the placemats next to each other.
Begin Hand Sewing
Begin sewing at one end. Make knots to secure. If you need tips for how to start and stop a project with embroidery thread, this video shows you the knots.
Start at one end and push the needle up through. Then you’re going to use the fibers of the rug for your stitches.
Keeping the mats lined up, zig zag stitch all the way down. Ideally you can use the fibers of the placemats to make your stitches. However, you can also go through the bottom to the top, etc.
Make enough stitches to secure the placemats well – you want them snug, because you want to have the ability to wash your rug.
Finish Off
Trim off the excess thread when you reach the end. You’re done!
A 15-minute craft, and you have a new bathroom rug! I hope this DIY bath mat inspires you to look at things a little differently the next time you’re at the thrift store!
DIY Bath Mat
Equipment
- Needle(s)
Materials
- 2 Placemats
- 1 skein Embroidery floss or thread
Instructions
- Start by making sure the placemats are washed and laying flat. Lay them next to each other.
- Line the mats up and zig zag stitch all the way down, making sure to knot the thread at the beginning and end.
- Trim off the excess thread when you reach the end using the scissors.
Notes
- Grab several placemats to make a larger mat. I love that you can make this whatever size you like!
- To make this non-slip, hot glue shelf liner to the back with dots in a few places. When you need to wash, pull it off, and then re-hot glue the dots. It doesn’t take long.
Looking for more creative reuse ideas or home decor crafts, check out these other posts below:
Linda
Friday 7th of December 2018
How do you keep it from sliding around?
Amy
Friday 7th of December 2018
Hi Linda! I either use a rug pad (they're so cheap at IKEA or Dollar Tree) OR spare grip tape if I have it OR I place dabs of hot glue at strategic areas on the back. If I use the hot glue, I wash it normally and just replace it as it wears off. :D