Placemats made with Japanese kasuri cotton from Okan Arts

kasuri placemats :: a tutorial

NOTE: Okan Arts has sold out of Vintage Kasuri Packs. It is getting quite difficult to obtain the fabric at a reasonable price. As soon as we can collect more, we will offer the Packs again.

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA. For my Kasuri Placemats, I used two packs of Vintage Kasuri—each with five 1/2 yard pieces of ikat-woven cotton from Japan.

The two packs yielded enough kasuri cotton for six placemats but I only had enough backing fabric for four placements. So, I’m saving the extra kasuri for patching jeans.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

To start, I pre-washed all of my kasuri cotton with color catchers. It took three washes in my front-loading machine (Warm/Cold cycle) with three color catchers per load to release the botanical indigo.

Reading the packaging, I got the tip to place my color catchers in a net bag so they wouldn’t clog my drain.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

When the pre-washing was complete, I noted three things: 1/ the cotton had shrunk (which was expected), 2/ the fabric had frayed (I trimmed off the threads), and 3/ the pre-washed fabric was brighter than the original (which was unexpected).

I sliced the kasuri cotton into 3 1/2" strips across the 14" width.

I sewed six strips together for each placemat, pressing the seam allowances to one side.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

To square up the placemat fronts, I made a 12" x 18" trim template out of freezer paper. I pressed the trim template to the right side of each placemat front and trimmed around the template, adding a 1/4" on all sides with my gridded ruler and rotary cutter.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

I used the same trim template to cut out my backing fabric — shirt-weight denim. (One of my backs was made with scraps of the denim fabric!)

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

With right sides together, I sewed the front and back of each placemat together along the top and bottom edges. Then I pulled the placemat through the sewn tunnel to make it right-side-out.

I pressed the unfinished placemats so the seams were in the middle of the top and bottom edges.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

With a walking foot on my sewing machine, I stitched-in-the-ditch along all the seams in the kasuri cotton This secured the front and the back of the placemat together. 

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

Pinning first to ensure the outer areas were flat, I stitched 1/8" along both sides.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

I made eight 3" x 14" finishing strips of contrast cotton for binding the ends of my four placemats. I chose an indigo and white geometric yukata cotton.

With right sides together, I pinned each finishing strip 1/2" in from the side edges — with the ends of the strips evenly hanging past the top and bottom of the unfinished placemat.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts
Using a 1/4" presser foot, I stitched 1/4" in from the outer edge of the finishing strip.
First I tucked the overhanging ends of the finishing strips around the top and bottom edges of the unfinished placemats. Then I folded the length of the finishing strip around the sides. 
Pinning from the front, I folded under the long edge of the finishing strip so it was 1" wide on the back.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan ArtsKasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

Using my walking foot, I stitched-in-the-ditch along the finishing strip from the front — catching the edge of the finishing strip on the backside.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

I secured the ends of the finishing strips with stitched triangles that began and ended with micro stitches.

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

Tada! I finished my set of kasuri placemats!

Kasuri cotton placemat tutorial by Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts

To purchase Japanese kasuri cotton +click here

ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan.

FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts