DIY Sisal Rope Placemats

I put together this DIY tutorial for you to make these REALLY easy rope placemats – but please read all the way to the end for the step I forgot (but is VERY necessary).

Whenever you see photographs of patios with their gorgeous table settings and acoutrements, you will inevitably find a version that is showcasing “coastal”.  Perhaps the plates have fish on them, or there is a conch shell on the table holding a candle – and more often than not, you’ll see a rope placemats or chargers.

Pottery Barn used to sell rope placemats, but don’t anymore – I believe they came in around $16 per.

My DIY sisal rope placemats  on the other hand, came in at about $3 per – using some sisal rope from Home Depot.

It’s simple – all you need to do is start with a tight coil and use your hot glue gun to hold the rings in place at about every 3 inches or so.

Keep wrapping and glueing (making sure your rope is on a flat surface) until your rope placemats reach a diameter of 14″ (35.5cm).

Add a final bead of glue to the end point to hold in place and you’re done!

I think it took about 5 minutes per placemat.

30 feet of rope and about 4 gluesticks will make one 14″ rope charger.

Very easy, very nautical, very cute but….

if you plan to leave your rope placemats outside, or if they should get wet at all – they WARP!

Not a little warping – substantial, unusable warping.

And…… they smell.

Wet sisal or jute rope is not a ‘nice’ smell.  I’d put it more in the arena of a wet sheep smell.

(Found this out after a rain storm).

The only way to keep your chargers from warping is to sew them into place.  You’ll need to use a see-through thread – along the lines of fishing line – and sew in an out between the coils, and then back again to the outside, to hold the charger’s shape.

I’d suggest at least 4 rows of sewing from outer edge, through the centre, to the opposite edge (and back again to tie off), if you want your rope placemats to stay flat.

Or you could just make sure they don’t get wet.

I like them – they add texture and ambiance to the table, and they weren’t expensive or even time-consuming to make.

I’m glad I tried, and I like that I have them – but I do understand why Pottery Barn doesn’t carry them anymore.

Have a great one!

Linked to:

• Between Naps on the Porch
• Burlap & Babies

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