Christmas Mat Striped Border tutorial.

I thought I might take you through the method I use for making half square triangles the quick and easy way :o). This is how I did the borders on my Christmas mat - (your freebie pattern from Among The Gumtrees blog last week) - so I'll use the measurements from that pattern for this demonstration....

1. Take 2 strips, (1 of light and 1 of dark) 1 and 7/8" wide and rule them up as shown below. The vertical lines are 1 and 7/8" apart and the diagonals run from corner to corner.
2. I've used a dark thread for easier visibility for you so that you can see that I've sewn 1/4" each side of the drawn diagonal lines.

3. Cut the squares apart on the drawn line .........

....then cut the triangles apart.

4. Press the little blocks open pressing toward the dark triangle.

5. These little squares will now measure 1and a 1/2" x 1and a 1/2".

6. Lay the squares out in the pattern you'd like to sew them then sew them all together with an accurate 1/4" seam allowance.

7. Press the strip with all the seams pressed in the same direction.

8. Trim off the little 'bunny ears' .......... and your strip is now complete and ready to sew onto your stitchery :o).

This is my favourite way of making lots of 1/2 square triangles, and I hope you found this little tutorial useful ................ :o)

FOOTNOTE:- I should have put this in with the instructions, oops, sorry ;o). You can make these half square triangles to suit any project you're working on. The general rule is to add 3/8" to the desired block size you're needing. So if you want a finished block (including seam allowances) of 4" for example - then you would make your strips 4 and 3/8" wide - this would give you a half-square triangle block 4" x 4" -[ so that when it's sewn into your project it would be a finished size of 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"].