I seem to be at the age where all of my friends are having babies so I’ve been trying to come up with an original gift that’s actually useful to them.  I made this changing mat, with pockets to store spare nappies and a pack of wipes, a little while ago and I’ve been trying to write a tutorial, but I haven’t really taken enough photos and I’ve realised that I could actually make the design much easier.

This was my first attempt at a couple of things – I’d never worked with oilcloth before unless you count throwing it across the dining room table to protect it from the nephews and I’d been fairly scared of bias binding before I started this project!

I was inspired by the changing mat that another friend uses for her babies and found the oilcloth at Ikea.  It’s actually quite a lightweight oilcloth that meant it was easier to work with and I could use a normal sewing needle.  The fabric for the outside comes from my ever growing stash!  It took a day to complete, but I think that was because I was experimenting as I went along.

It was used successfully for the first time today and I’ve asked my friend to let me know how well it stands up to the test of a small squirming child.  I think I’ll be making another one for the next little sprog that appears!