It has been a summer. Somehow, despite keeping our plans pretty light, I have been running around everywhere with the kids. On top of that, it has been a pretty hot summer for my area. We actually had air conditioning (notice the past tense?), but it went out literally three days before the hottest weekend of the summer. Really, it was the hottest weekend ever.
(It needed to be replaced, and because of supply issues, we couldn't get it replaced until about four days ago. I figure the rest of summer will be nice and cool)
However, because of a quirk of our house, my sewing room happens to have separate, built-in air conditioning. So guess where my family has been spending most of their time this summer?
You'd think it would make it easier to sew, but no. Everything takes three times as long when you have three times the help.
But! Lucky for me, Rebecca Page has this adorable washable coloring play mat pattern! It is such a quick sew. And provides entertainment so I can sneak a little bit more sewing in!
My kids were honestly quite horrified at the thought I might want to wash away any of their precious artwork, so I used a panel I happened to have with a car track for one side. They have tons of cars that fit nicely on the track.
I did just use a plain blue for the other side, just in case they ever change their minds about washing away artwork. No markers have touched that side as of this writing, but it does make an excellent fishing pond.
This was a ridiculously quick and easy sew. I think it took me less than an hour, including cutting, AND making my own tassels. And let's not forget all the help I had.
I do, however, recommend sewing at least a couple of extra lines on the tassels if you make your own like I did. Some of the yarn pieces were falling out like a cat shedding in a super hot summer. However, making the tassels is an excellent way to keep small children entertained while you handle the sharp cutting tools for the rest of the mat.
Overall, this is a pretty fun pattern! It would make an excellent gift if you need something quick for a child in your life, and it's also a great pattern to sew with kids (or have kids sew...my oldest did a lot of the actual sewing, since it's basically all straight lines). Even for kids like mine who want nothing to do with washing artwork away, it can be a pretty fun toy.
If you'd like to get your own copy, you can grab it here (I do make a small commission at no extra cost to you if you click that link). And I'd love to know what you think! Will the kids in your life tolerate washing away artwork, or they budding Picassos in the making, and cannot bear to lose a single pen mark?