Rosewillow’s Unfinished Business

My first recycled bath mat has been so popular with my husband and daughter that I’ve had to make a second one for the other bathroom.

I hate to throw away anything that still has an ounce of use left in it.  This was an old and faded mat, still usable but not very pretty.

I used the flip and sew method, as with the previous mat.  The instructions are here in a little tutorial.

Here is the mat covered with strips and trimmed.

To make the mat sturdier and more durable, I straight-stitched down the centre of each strip and used a machine embroidery stitch down each seam line.  Then I bound the edges with some red bias binding left over from a Christmas project.

Here is a view of the back, which is just thick cotton.  I wouldn’t like to sew on a rubber-backed mat because it would probably harm my sewing machine, and I don’t like the way the rubbery stuff feels to the touch.

Here is the new finished mat…

…and the original mat, which is now 9 months old, still in service and looking fine, even after weekly trips through the washing machine and tumble dryer.

Happy Quilting!