Last night we gave baby Stroller a hunk of apple to suck on and explore. He loved it!


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We’re only a month away from starting to give him food from our plates on a regular basis, which means that very soon we’re going to be using the splat mat I made.

When I made the mat last summer, I couldn’t imagine the day when baby S would be flipping bowls of spaghetti on his head like I did as a baby, but here it is, right around the corner. Sigh.

The splat mat is a super easy, super fast project. For my version you’ll need a sewing machine, but you could make one without too!

Supplies

  • One yard of oil cloth fabric ~54″ wide (I chose a heavier weight oil cloth instead of a thin laminated cotton)
  • 5 1/2 – 6 yards of extra wide, jumbo rick-rack, depending on the width of your oil cloth or decorative cut scissors or pinking shears

Sewn Splat Mat

With the front of your oil cloth facing you and starting an inch from one corner, carefully sew down the center of the rick-rack very close to the edge of the oil cloth. When you reach a corner, pinch the rick-rack together to form a point, sew down, turn and continue sewing along the next edge.

To end, cut the rick-rack leaving an inch long tail, overlap the tail on top of the rick-rack where you started, making sure to match up peaks and valleys and stitch in place.

No-Sew Splat Mat

The no-sew option doesn’t have rick-rack trim, but decorative scissors will make a cute mat too!

Using your decorative cut scissors and working close to the edges, cut around the entire piece of oil cloth. It’s best to use a pair of scissors meant for fabric or never used on paper, since paper dulls the blades quickly. Do a few test cuts first to make sure your scissors work with your fabric.

That’s it, easy peasy. Bring on the adventurous eating, baby Stroller!