DIY Baby Playmat

Here it is, my newest creation. (Not the baby, she's been around for 7 weeks, the playmat.)

 Cream "needed" a playmat and I decided to try my hand at making my own. One hula hoop, several yards of fabric, batting, 9 buttons, and a yard of elastic later, she has her playmat. I didn't take pictures as I made it, so no real tutorial here, but I will give you a run down of how  I created it. I started by cutting a hula hoop in half with a hack saw. (Little did I know that a wave hula hoop means that it is filled with water. Good thing I did my sawing in the garage.) I then sewed fabric tubes to cover each hula hoop arch. As I sewed I inserted loops of elastic that could be used to hang toys off the arches.

It took me a while to figure out how I would attach the arches to the mat, I ended up using two half circles of fabric sewn together with button holes on each corner. So, I made a sandwich with the batting, backing, and top fabric and inserted the half circles onto each corner. Then I sewed two buttons onto each end of each arch.

In order to secure the arches when they are up, I sewed an elastic loop and button on one arch. I simply wrap the elastic around both arches and secure it with the loop.

While this playmat doesn't come with all of the bells and whistles that the store bought ones do, it should do the trick for the few months that Cream will make use of it.

I am linking to these wonderful parties this week.
Today's Creative Blog