DIY Toy Car Play Mat

I was inspired by this wonderful toy car play mat over at Punkin Patterns to create one of my own.

MATERIALS:
- sewing machine, notions, etc.
- a button
- a hair elastic
- 6 toy cars
- a piece of thin quilt batting 18.5" x 30.5"
- fabric:

• 1 of back side 18.5" x 30.5" - this is what will show when the mat is rolled up
• 1 of garage 18.5" x 10" - can be anything; mine is bricks
• 1 of black 18.5" x 6.5"
• 4 of black 18.5" x 2.5"
• 12 of black 4.5" x 2.5"
• 12 of feature 4.5" x 4.5" (square) - fabrics featuring things to drive on or around (buildings, rocks, grass, etc.)

- thread:

• bobbins matching back side fabric
• top thread matching garage fabric
• yellow top thread

1. Pre-wash, iron, and cut the fabric. Lay out the feature blocks 3 wide and 4 high. Interspace 3 of the short black strips into each row, alternating which end of the row you put the black strip on:

B-F-B-F-B-F   F-B-F-B-F-B   B-F-B-F-B-F   F-B-F-B-F-B

2. Sew 1 short black strip to the side of each feature square (6 on the left, 6 on the right). Iron.

3. Sew the rows together. Iron. Sew one long black strip to the top of each row. Iron. Sew these new rows together. Sew the wide black piece to the bottom of your rows. Iron.

Fold your garage piece in half (right side out) so that it is now 18.5" x 5" and iron the fold. Line the open side up with the bottom edge and baste it on top of the wide black piece. The top is now complete.

4. Layer the batting, the piece for the back side (right side up), and the top (right side down). Place the elastic between the top and back on one side approximately 3.5" down from the top edge, with the majority of it inside and just enough sticking out to catch in the seam. Pin all the way around. Sew around the edge, leaving an opening for turning.

5. Trim the tips off the corners. Turn the mat right side out. Sew the opening shut.

6. Mark the center of the garage piece. Mark 2.75" and 5.5" from the center mark on both sides. Using top thread that matches the garage fabric and bobbin thread that matches the back side, sew lines up the garage at these 5 marks (from the bottom outside edge up to the black), turning 1 big pocket into 6 car-sized pockets. Backstitch at the ends.

7. Using yellow top thread and bobbin thread that matches the back side, sew down the center of all of the black strips. Backstitch at the ends. I sewed 1 big long line zigzagging across the mat on the long strips and down the short strips on the ends of the rows, then did the short strips in the center of the mat.

8. Put the toy cars in the garage pockets. Fold the mat in half top to bottom, then in half again the same way. Roll up the mat from the end opposite where your elastic is. Mark where you need to sew on the button so the elastic will loop around it and hold the mat closed. Sew the button on - be careful not to sew all the way through to the front side. DONE!