Keep Calm and Carry On

When things were getting tough with the whole fertility treatment/adoption trauma, I saw this print. Along with probably 1/3 of the US I had to have it. It helped me remember to take deep breaths and continue on with life. I got it and slapped it up on the wall. I needed it up asap, no matter how I did it. So there it sat for 2 1/2 years until I finally got around to making it cute.

I knew I needed to paint the mat or do something with it. I've had some linen sitting around waiting for me to use it, so I did! Here's the method to my madness.

I laid the mat out on the linen and cut the linen about 5/8" of an inch larger than the mat.

To adhere the fabric to the mat I used some photo matting paper that gets sticky on both sides when heated, but fusible interfacing/web or stitchwitch would work just as well. All I did was iron over the mat making sure to avoid ironing over the opening and holding the fabric taught while doing it as well. After it cooled I flipped it over and cut from the center of the opening to each corner.

Then I folded the fabric and adhesive to the back.

When I folded it back I checked to see if any of the flaps were too long and trimmed them.

I wanted them to be just short enough that they wouldn't over lap the side edges when they were pulled back.

I secured the flaps by working on the folded edge first, folding it and pulling it taught while I applied the heat. Once the edge was nice and neat, I worked on the  rest of the flap from the folded edge to the tip.

Before I secured the side edges, I snipped the corners to avoid excess bulk. I didn't snip all the way to the mat as I wanted to avoid fraying on the corners. I cut extra strips of the adhesive paper for the edges and secured them exactly how I did the flaps in the center.

And TADA! 10mins later I had a beautiful mat!