Fall Felt Playmat

Fall is on of my favorite seasons… but living in a warmer weather location, it’s not one my kids get to experience like I did. I created this fun fall felt playmat to allow them to play with fall leaves, pick pumpkins or harvest apples. Whether you get to do these things regularly or not, this fall felt playmat will surely be a hit with your kids. The best part is.. you can machine sew it, hand sew it, OR use hot glue to put it all together… Anyone can make it!

Fall Felt Playmat tutorial-

With both boys in school full day this year, Rose and I look forward to and treasure our afternoons with the boys. Fun playtime and good snacks are a must when the boys come home from school. This fall felt playmat is perfect for those afternoons when we need some quiet play after a crazy buys day. Of course, pairing the playmat with Goldfish crackers is a great idea. As a mom, IIf only all our mom and kid days could be this fun together! {but, it’s real life… there are a lot of hard afternoons too!}

Ok.. want to make one of these fun mats for yourself? Here we go! Go down load the templates here: ONE – TWO – THREE. In addition to these pieces included on the template, you need to cut 1 piece of blue felt 9 x 23 inches and a pieces of tan rolling hills 23″ long and 4.5″ high with hills going up and down as shown. You also need a piece of fall themed or colored cotton fabric for backing. 11 x 25 inches.  Use the photo as a guide for colors when cutting. Grab your box of felt scraps or head to the store with this photo to shop!

You will also need: Velcro, buttons, Snaps {plastic or metal} and a short zipper.

Start by sewing {or gluing} the tan hills onto the blue. Then sew/glue 3- 1″ long pieces of velcro near the top for the sun and clouds.

Put one side of the snaps on the back of each apple, and the other scattered on the tree. I used plastic snaps, but I’ve put some metal snaps in photo, you can use that kind too.

On the apple tree trunk sew a zipper on the back of the trunk. Sew down both sides and across the bottom, trim the zipper if it’s too long. Turn over to the front and cut a slit in the felt to open the zipper.

Sew/glue the basket/tree trunk/tree top to the playmat base. I sewed a few places in the tree top so when we pulled the snaps it would be secure.

Arrange the pumpkin leaves, vine {just cut from scraps} and wagon pices on the mat. Sew/glue in place. For the pumpkins add detail with hand sewing or markers, then sew or glue around the outside. Cut the middle for the buttonhole. Sew buttons near leaves for pumpkins. {this is the one part I think you NEED to sew.. the buttons to the mat. Gluing buttons won’t works so well.

Sew or glue the leaf tree to the mat. I used decorative stitching, but you can just sew around the edge or glue down. For the leaves sew a small bit of velcro to the back of each leaf. I just sewed a straight line down the center. Securing the leaf layers together and attaching the velcro.  I hand-sewed some and used the machine for some. Glue the other side of the velcro to the tips of all the branches. I would recommend putting the rough side of the velcro on the leaves so they will “stick” to the felt ground when they “fall” from the tree.

Sew the other side of the velcro to the back of the clouds and sun. Sew the two layers of sun and clouds together around the edge.

Now, place the playmat on the WRONG side of you fall cotton fabric. You should have about 1″ of fabric around all side. Fold over 1/2″, then fold over again to cover the edge of the felt. Pin around. You can sew or hot glue this as well.

here are the three areas of play on the mat!

Goldfish brand sponsors monthly themed social-entry contest. The theme for September is fall – I can’t wait to see what Oct will bring… I’m sharing this photo of Goldfish playing with my squirrels for the contest! Use #GoldfishTalesPromotion when you share on twitter or instr gram to enter. Head over to the Goldfish brand page to get all the details on their Goldfish Tales campaign here.