Gifts for Boys - Toy Car Mat

I am making a concerted effort to improve my repertoire of gifts for boys. This car mat is my latest creation for the lovely Oliver who turned three last month and loves the Disney Pixar film, Cars.

When rolled up it is nice and neat and small enough to pop in a bag and take wherever you may need to keep your little one occupied.

Unroll it and it looks like this:

The Cars fabric on the exterior is from the home dec section at Spotlight, which works well to make the mat a bit sturdier and more durable. The interior is a simple cotton polka dot, and the car pouches were made from a strip of cotton navy star print. The road is a wide piece of black bias binding, stitched down the middle with my straight stitch on the longest stitch length setting.

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I used some grosgrain ribbon to secure the mat when it is rolled up. You could also use elastic or a strip of fabric with some velcro attached, which might be better for little hands.

I was pretty happy with my first attempt at a car mat, I think I would tweak the pattern a bit next time, but overall I think it was a success!

What do you think? Maybe I should do a tutorial for this one? I am also thinking of making a couple for my shop, so watch this space!