Laminated Cotton Pastry Mat

As you may have noticed, I haven't done a tutorial for you all in ages. I've been so busy with my upcoming book, Sewing with Oilcloth, and all my new creative efforts have been a bit top-secret.

But don't fret, I found a really quick project to share. A few weeks ago a customer asked me if oilcloth would be good to use as a pastry mat, my answer is no, not oilcloth but what about laminated cotton? 

The idea lead me to go back and ask good people at Freespirit and Westminster Fabrics if they had tested their laminated cottons for food safety yet. Well, the answer was yes, it has been tested and it is food safe. What great news is that?? When I asked the same question last May the answer wasn't available, so I was thrilled to get this news. 

CORRECTION:  After having a discussion about the food safe fabrics with another blogger I contacted the good people at Westminter and Freespririt fabrics and asked for tangible proof that laminated cotton is indeed food safe. Unfortunately the company hasn't tested the fabric for "food safety" at this time and makes no claim that the laminated cotton is food safe. They did apologize for any misinformation previously given. 

So let's talk turkey, no one's saying that it's not food safe, it just hasn't been tested. Please know that I strive to give you all the latest news about such things, if I hear more on this issue I'll be sure to give you all the facts.  

Like everything in life, educate yourself and make the best decision for your family.  

The fabric Westiminster company sent me the lab results proving that their laminated cotton is BPA-free.  I'll be contacting them for the PVC test result and to confirm that the laminated fabric is CPSIA compliment as I understand it to be.

Back to this super simple project! I had forgotten about the mat idea until I was about to make heart-shaped pizza's for Valentines Day. The last time I made dough I through away my Tupperware dough mat because it was totally gross and melted from a little cookie pan incident! Well, I ran into the Modern June studio and whipped up a new dough mat out of the Heather Bailey, Hop Dot laminate!

I literally made this in less than 10 minutes!

Materials:
2/3 yards of laminated cotton
Wide ruler or square
pencil
glue stick (my new found BFF)
Pinking shears or a fancy rotary cutter and mat
matching thread

Step 1: On the back of your fabric use your wide ruler or square to draw two 24" squares. 

Step 2: Cut out your squares using your pinking shears or rotary cutter and mat. I used a rotary cutter with a crimped edge. (note: a really sharp blade is best when cutting the laminated cotton, it's a bit tricky to cut with a dull blade)

Step 3: Use a glue stick instead of pins to bring the two layers of laminated cotton wrong sides together. A thin layer of glue along the stitch like was all it took to keep the two pieces together.

Step 4: Using a 1/2" seam allowance stitch the mat closed on all four sides. If you have a roller or teflon foot handy use that to keep the laminated side of the fabric from sticking to your foot. If you don't have a fancy foot, no worries click here for our tape tip. As for needles, we used to suggest a microtex needle but we have found that an nice new all-purpose needle will do you just fine!

Step 5: All that is left is to start baking! To get you laminated mat to stick to your counter just use a use a clean dishcloth to dampen your counter before you lay it down. To clean it up, just whip it down with a soapy dishcloth and air dry. I told you its easy-peasy and super pretty.