If you are tending to flowers or veggies this summer keep your knees comfy with this knee pad! Made from an upcycled outdoor tablecloth, this is a quick afternoon project to get you back to the garden in no time!
Janome Supplies Required
You Will Need:
1 yard fabric
Foam
1” wide webbing (roughly 10”)
Lighter or fray check (to finish ends of webbing)
Ruler
Clips
Hand Sewing Needle
If you are using vinyl material, here are a few tips to help you sew!
Ironing: There are a few ways to properly iron your vinyl – both ways require your iron to be on lower
heat! If your vinyl has a flannel backing, you can iron directly on the backside, or you can cover the vinyl
with a lightweight towel and iron on the towel. You may not be able to get all the wrinkles out (as you’ll
see in mine), but they should ease over time and with use! Be sure to not iron the vinyl directly!
Instructions
If you are tending to flowers or veggies this summer keep your knees comfy with this knee pad! Made
from an upcycled outdoor tablecloth, this is a quick afternoon project to get you back to the garden in
no time! I have been thinking of ways to upcycle some unlikely linens, and this secondhand vinyl
tablecloth was perfect for this project!
This project can be made with a tablecloth or any other outdoor/upholstery fabric. I find it works best
with something that can get wet or can be easily wiped down.
Pinning: Any hole poked into vinyl will be there permanently. I recommend using clips in place of pins
when sewing.
Picking out foam: There are different foams you can buy, if possible, test them in store! Foam used here
is NUFOAM by Fairchild. It is made from recycled materials and water will drain through if it gets wet.
You can also choose to stuff your knee pad with leftover sewing scraps! Your pad will be heavier, but it’s
a great use for small scraps!
My foam was originally 15” x 17” x 3”, and I cut it down to be 11.5” x 17” x 3”. This is the size that felt
comfortable to me, but you can cut your foam any size you want!
Seam Allowance: ½”
1. Cut your fabric and webbing. To get your fabric measurements, measure your foam length,
width and height. Add 1” to each measurement to add seam allowance. My foam measures 17”
x 11.5” x 3” h. Here are my pieces:
Body: 18” x 12.5” (Cut 2)
Long Side: 18” x 4” (Cut 2)
Short Side: 12.5” x 4” (Cut 2)
Webbing: 8” long for a 12.5” side. To prevent your cut webbing from fraying, you can use a lighter to
melt the ends. Just a quick pass of heat will do! If you aren’t comfortable with that step, you can use fray
check!
2. Attach strap to one short end. On one short end, align one end of webbing 2 ½” in and centered.
Stitch end down and repeat on other end of webbing.
3. Sew sides right sides together. On each short end, clip one long side to one short side, to create
our frame. On each corner, mark ½”. To make the boxy corners without making extra holes in
our fabric, start ½” down on each seam, and finish ½” before each end. Backstitching at each.
When completed, we will have a rectangular frame.
4. Next, pin one body piece to the frame. With right sides together, match short ends with short
end of body, and long ends with long end of body. Again, we are stitching leaving a ½” free on
each end. When you get to each end, remember to backstitch. I find it easiest to finish each
seam, clip my thread, and re-adjust my corners before stitching again.
Here’s how your finished corners will look!
5. Next, clip the second body piece to other side of frame. On the short end with no carrying strap,
leave a gap to insert foam (the bottom end of our knee pad). I stitched about 1” on each side,
leaving a 9” gap. Stitch body to frame, again leaving ½” free on each end.
6. Turn project right side out. Insert foam piece. If you are making your knee pad with lightweight
vinyl/outdoor tablecloth, do not stretch hole too much for foam, as your seams can tear.
7. Turn raw edges in ½”, and clip opening closed. Hand sew shut using a ladder stitch.
Finished!