Car Play Mat: A DIY Portable Gift Idea

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You can make a car play mat in an afternoon for your little one or any other child you need a DIY gift idea for. This portable mat is perfect for play on the go. Just pop the cars inside, fold it up, and drop it in your purse. Your little one can then play with the cars on the road anytime and anywhere! This one was originally posted over on the Darice blog where I am a paid contributor, however, I am sharing it here in case you missed it.

Make this car play mat as a great DIY gift idea for the kids! They can take and play with their cars anywhere!

Supplies needed to make a car play mat:

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Felt Sheets in:
- Green (note: needs to be a large sheet)
- White (one sheet)
- Grey (one sheet)
- Orange (one sheet)
- Yellow (one sheet or scraps)
Sewing Machine and Thread
Green Ribbon
Scissors
Pins
Printable Template

Start by cutting your green felt to 11 inches by 13 inches.

Then cut your other pieces:

5 inch by 12 inch rectangle of white
4 inch wide curved piece of grey (for road)
1/2 inch by 2 inch yellow pieces for road stripes
Orange car and numbers (you can print the template here) (NOTE: You can also cut these with a machine like the Cricut Maker. See more about cutting felt with it here.)

Need help uploading your template into Cricut Design Space? Try the video below!

Start pinning all of your pieces to each other but not to the green piece yet. NOTE: The white piece is one inch longer than the 11 inch wide green piece. This gives you extra room when creating your car pockets.

Then sew your road lines to the grey road piece. Also stitch your numbers to the white piece. NOTE: I used two pieces of grey to create my road however you can also use one felt piece cut into a curve.

Pin the car to one corner of the green felt piece and stitch into place with your sewing machine.

Flip the green piece over and start pinning your pieces as well as your ribbon into place. Gather up your felt when pinning the white piece into place to create roomy car pockets. Before sewing, fold your project to ensure proper placement of objects and ribbon.

Then just use your sewing machine to stitch everything into place. NOTE: I did not sew a line between one and two on the white felt. I did this for a couple of reasons. The first being I did not want a sewing line on my car applique. Second I have found that there are some LARGE mini cars. Monster trucks and ones with lights on the top. I have made things like this before and have not always been able to fit all cars in the slots. This leaves room for those extra tall toys.