Baby Play Mat

This is what I made last year for little one when he was only 7 months old at Christmas and he just sat on top of it like a little Christmas pudding!

The mat evolved as I worked on it as I didn't really have a set plan of exactly what I wanted to make.  I knew I wanted a range of touchy-feely fabrics and bits of ribbon and to try to make different themes/scenes, so the outcome turned out to be flower shape with each scene looking a bit like a petal.

I used bits of fabric that I had lying around, the only thing I bought was a larger piece to back it and some squeakers for inside the sun and the bus.  I'm not sure why a sun might squeak but it's been lots of fun anyway!

weather scene

The weather scene has a felt rainbow, towelling cloud with shiny lame raindrops and ribbon rays coming from the sun.

bus scene

The double decker bus is made from mix of cotton and felt and has a squeaker behind the driver.  
The leaves have different patterns and textures and some have crinkly paper inside to make a nice scrunchy sound.

dinosaur scene

The dinosaur is made from fleece and has different ribbons stitched around its back, the 'smoke' from the volcano is a piece of netting and the sandy looking ground is a piece of rough linen.

moon scene

The space scene has a moon with craters which are stitched on top of wadding to give a padded look.  The stars are the shiny lame again and the rocket is made from felt.  It can fly around the moon but it's attached with a ribbon and can be secured on the moon with a piece of Velcro.

garden scene

The garden scene has a butterfly with wings that can be lifted up and a flower with crinkly leaves.  The grass is fringed for added texture.

I tried to use lots of colours, prints, textures and sounds to make the mat interesting for a baby, but didn't buy anything specifically for the mat, I just tried to use what I had (apart from the squeakers). 

He has enjoyed using it and hopefully will continue to do so as he grows and develops, learning to use it in different ways.

I thought carefully about safety while making this as I know my little one put absolutely everything in his mouth at that stage.  It really goes without saying that if you want to make one, choose materials which you think are safe and suitable for your baby. Remember to ensure everything is securely attached to the mat and never leave your baby unsupervised when on the mat.  

Reversible play mat

Following on from the farm play mat, and Monty's new interest in cars, and also from a recent family lunch out (trying to keep him entertained), I decided to make a play mat that can fit in a bag, roughly the size of a large table mat, that can go everywhere with us. 






It's not easy to make a lot of roads with such a small mat so a figure eight shape seemed best. 

I had this fabric with colourful hills and houses and thought it might be nice to cut around the shapes in the fabric rather than cut straight lines across it.  Then I just stitched around the shapes.

To keep it all together I made a drawstring bag in similar colours - roughly A4 size including a 1cm seam allowance and enough for the fold to encase the drawstring.

And to make it even more fun, I made it reversible with a dinosaur side!  I made a little water hole for the dinosaurs and stitched some other dinosaurs around the edges. 

The bag holds the mat, a little car and helicopter and three pocket sized dinosaurs. 

I think we should lunch out again soon just to test it!

Farm Play Mat

Monty got a little wooden farm sorting set for his birthday a couple of months ago which he is beginning to show more interest in now. He likes putting the animals through the holes and any hole will do at this stage.
To extend the play opportunity for the farm set I thought adding a simple play mat of patchwork fields would be fun.  In time this will encourage role play as he plays with the animals, sorting and organising them and putting them into different fields......with a little pond for the duck and goose too.

If you want to have a go at making your own play mat, here are some basic guidelines and pictures to help. It's VERY easy!

You will need some small scraps of fabric and a larger piece which is big enough to make the back of the mat - I made this A3 size and used a combination of greens so it would look like fields.

Make a paper pattern from an A3 piece of paper

I started with a piece of A3 paper which I sectioned roughly into 'fields' and then numbered them to make it easier to keep track of where they they all go once they've been cut out.  The circle will become the pond.

Add seam allowances of 1cm

Next, cut all the pieces out and lay them onto another piece of paper.  

Draw around them adding a 1cm seam allowance on each piece, except the circle, as this will be appliqued on and doesn't need a seam.

Cut out the fabric

Now lay the paper pieces onto the fabric, draw around them with chalk or pencil (or pin in place) and cut each piece out. 


Here they are cut out and in position ready to sew.

Applique the circle

First I appliqued the pond - I just used a zig-zag all the way around.  

Now you can join all the other bits together.  This is where the numbers come in handy.



Join 1 to 4, 2 to 5, 2/5 to 3, 3/5 to 6 and finally 2/5/6 to 1/4.  

Hope that makes sense!

Now you need to press it and then cut out a backing piece the same size.  With right sides together stitch all the way around leaving a small gap of about 10cm on one of the seams. Trim the corners, turn through the gap and press. Finally top stitch all the way around and give one more press.

                                                      

Finished!!

It fits snugly into the farm set too, so is easy to transport.