That's Fairy Clever: Placemat Fabric Boxes

I am in the process of cleaning out my home and getting rid of things that I don't need. I happened upon this lovely stack of dollar store placemats that I bought at Christmastime thinking that I would make crayon rolls with them. They didn't work for that purpose but, I couldn't just throw them out. They are perfectly good fabric and you can't throw fabric out (I have a bit of a problem and probably need a fabric intervention.)

So, when I came across them yesterday, I looked at them wondering what I could do and it hit me to try a box. Now, these aren't show stoppers by any means but, they are fun, functional and you can whip up a ton in hardly any time at all.

You will need only a dollar store placemat (or more expensive if you really want) and a sewing machine. You might be able to do this with glue.... I am just too lazy to figure that out right now. The placemats are perfect for this because they are already lined and have the interfacing sewn in so you skip about 5 steps right there. Here is how to proceed:

Start with a placemat and iron it to get out all of the creases and wrinkles.

Fold your placemat in half and measure a 3" square in the NON FOLDED corner. Cut out the corner the square and repeat on the other side.

It should look like this when you are done.

When opened up, it should look like this.

Match up the sides of the cut out squares and line them up from the top edge down and pin into place. You will see your box begin to take form.

Sew down the edge about 1/4" in.

Zigzag stitch over the raw edge if you don't want it to fray. However, fray is in right now so, feel free to leave it be.

Press your small edge in on top of the box as shown and line up the bottom part of the previously made seams. Finger press the line between the two seams and stitch between the side seams (does that make any sense???)

It should look like this when you are done. Repeat on the other short side.

When the short sides are sewn. Fold over the long edge and finger press that crease. Sew between the previously made seams. Repeat on the other side. When you are done, it should look like this.