Back in the day (a good 25 years ago) my aunt made my siblings and I a car mat to play with. The grankids still play with it at my mom's house and I wanted to make one just like it. My aunt used a yard of fabric that had a town on it, with streets, stores, houses, schools, etc. Then she added on to it and personalized it. No such fabric could be found when I went to make my own.
I preferred this method (making my own) to purchasing the inexpensive carpet at Ikea because it can fold up small and it can be washed. The only downside was that I had to make the entire thing myself.
This was a real labor of love and I learned a few tricks for next time. I would use smaller pieces of green "grass" fabric and iron them down to the grey base so they wouldn't move when I sewed them. It would look a little more straight and less wrinkled if I did that. I know for next time now!
After I finished this one I went to the states and found not exactly but a close enough fabric to use so I decided to make a car mat for my nephew whose name I have for Christmas (good thing he can't read yet!).
So for this mat I made it more similar to my aunts mat. I used the basic fabric and added to each end. I included Grandma's House, Airport, Hospital, school, church, etc.
Added bonus? for the first mat I only paid $4 for the grey fabric, the rest was scraps I had on hand. Second Mat - $5 for the green and car fabric. PLUS all my hours and hours of work and stress.
What do you think?
Labels: diy, diy baby gift, kids rooms, play rooms, raising boys, toys
