Make spooky Halloween placemats

Can you believe it? Halloween is only a month away!

This year I’m trying to be slightly more prepared than I have been in previous years, including crafting some decorations for the house. I have some fun projects lined up and hope to share them all with you. First up; spooky Halloween placemats for the kids.

Normal placemats are usually a bit bigger, but since these are for kids, A4  (8.5″ x 11″ for my American friends) is big enough.

Materials (per placemat):

* A4 piece black felt, plus small scraps for facial features
* A5 piece white felt
* A4 piece orange felt
* water erasable fabric pen
* dressmaking scissors
* black embroidery thread
* white embroidery thread
* orange embroidery thread
* embroidery needle

Instructions:

1. Draw a ghost shape on your white piece of felt. Ghosts are cool, because there is no right or wrong way to draw them, but if you are unsure, copy my picture above.

2. Cut out the ghost shape. Also cut out two small ovals for eyes and one small oval or comma shape for the mouth from your scraps of black felt.

Tip: If you don’t have a water erasable fabric pen, use an ordinary marker. Make your design slightly larger and cut carefully inside the lines.

3. Cut off a length of black embroidery thread and separate the strands, two by two. Thread a needle and tie a knot at the other end.

4. Place eyes roughly where you want them and stitch in place. I went up through the middle of both pieces of felt, came down near the top edge, came back up through the middle, and went down near the bottom edge. I then secured with a knot on the back. Stitch the mouth in place the same way.

5. Next, cut off a piece of white embroidery thread and stitch the body in place on the black piece of felt. Centre it roughly on the felt, then stitch it in place using an even running stitch along the edge, making sure the ghost lies flat on the black felt all the time as you sew.

6. Now stitch the top piece of felt to the bottom piece using running stitch in orange. Start the first stitch through the top layer only so there are no knots on the back of the placemat. Do the same if you have to start a new thread half way around.

7. Finish off the stitch in between the two layers too, as close to the first stitch as possible. Then wipe off any marker marks that can still be seen on the ghost.

8. Set the table. Use the placemat as is for younger kids, or add fake spider web, spiders and bugs for slightly older ones.

I can’t wait to set the kids table on Halloween now. The kids will love having their own placemats. Aoife won’t like the spiders much, but they won’t faze Kirby in the slightest, so I might be able to do a few sneaky ones at his side of the table. Would they freak you or your kids out?

As always, if you like this craft, please pin it so others can find it too. Thank you!

Linking up with That DIY Party and Inspiration Monday and Crafty October.