Placemat Batting
 

Hi - Happy Easter! I'm making 8 placemats. I want them to be flat, so I prewashed my fabric, starched and ironed it. I will also prewash my batting, so there will be no shrinkage. My question is should I use cotton batting or Pellon fusible? I have never used Pellon fusible. It does not look nearly as thick as cotton batting. I want substantial placemats. What batting would you recommend?

Thanks!
LaDonna

I use Warm and white which is an all cotton batting. What I have found is that the small puckers aren't as noticable as the binding. I recommend pillowcasing or facing the placemats for a smooth edge.

I've used Pellon product PEL988 many times for table runners and place mats. It's very low loft, but does show up the quilting very nicely. It's not fusible, but very easy to handle.

I recently saw some placemats a quilt shop owner made in preparation for teaching a class on quilt as you go placemats, and she used Bosal foam. The placemats looked great, very flat, and evenly thick.

Bosal and the Pellon fusible fleece are both great choices and you don’t need to prewash them. They don’t shrink

Thank you. I picked out the prettiest binding, but I did not think that would be a problem. So, are you saying that the binding makes glasses (regular drinking and wine glasses) be susceptible to falling?

Thank you. Just curious, do you put binding on them?

A pattern I have for placemats suggests using flannel for the batting. Do prewash that because of the possible shrinkage factor. I'm not much on using a very thick batting for placemats as it can cause spills.

I use 8020 in placemats. I have some that I have used for several years and wash them regularly and dry them in the dryer. I have never had a problem with curling edges, shrinkage, edges curling, etc. They are bound in the regular way. I have 3 sets of placemats made this way.