Sew Your Own Bath Mat

I wanted to make bath time more fun for our little lad and to make sure that no accidents would be able to get through to the carpet, so I figured an octopus waterproof backed towel mat was the way to go!

What you will need:

At least half a bath towel

Corresponding size of waterproof PUL fabric

Some cotton scraps

How to make it:

First make your towel and PUL material the same size and shape.

Next decide on the picture you want to put on your bath mat (feel free to get cheeky and press 'print screen' to use my octopus as a guide or scroll to the bottom for my whale!). Draw it out on paper first so you can fine tweak it then cut it out of your cotton fabric scraps.

I found that temporary fabric glue often doesn't always stick very well to towels so I used lots of pins until I realised that quilt basting spray works brilliantly. I used a closely spaced zigzag stitch to applique the octopus on.

I put my fabrics right side together (octopus and fabric appearance side of the PUL in the centre), then stitched all round the outside leaving a hole big enough to turn the bath mat through. I would recommend leaving the hole away from a corner and preferably on the side that will be pushed up against the bath to make the join as least-noticeable as possible.

Trim off the corners leaving 1/4 inch between stitching and cutting to reduce the possibility of stitches being pulled out or towelling fraying (PUL is not prone to fraying).

Turn your bath mat right side out.

Next, tuck the raw edges back inside and hand stitch closed with a ladder stitch, then sew a top stitch 1/2 inch from the edge all the way around.

Then throw on the floor and start running your bath!

As I needed a back up mat for wash day, then here is the whale made with the other half of the towel:

 

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk

Happy Sewing!