What I Made // Travel Car Play Mat

Hey y'all!  I finally finished it!  This little project really only took about 2 hours to make, but working around Gavin to keep it a surprise, it took 2 weeks from the time I started it to completed.  I'll be 37 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and wanted to make Gavin a special surprise gift to put in his "big brother" activity for the big day at the hospital.  I knew that I wanted to handsew it (because I could do that quietly around Gavin), it needed to be a portable, quiet toy that he could use many times, and since he LOVES cars, this seemed like the perfect project to make: a travel-size, car play mat that is easy to fold and go.  It also, fits perfectly in my purse!

The entire car mat ended up costing only $13 to make, plus time.

• $6 for the toy cars
• $1 for a pack of felt from the dollar store
• I already had the scrap denim material and all the thread, needle, pins, etc.
• $6 for a pack of fabric markers (to paint the lines on the road and numbers on the pockets)

I started by laying out and cutting the felt, and designing the "scenery" and roads.

Some of the car mat's features include:

a house,

a couple of trees,

one small pond,

and a big red barn.

There is also a brown "dirt road" because I ran out of black felt for "pavement". :-)

I sewed all of these little pieces to a large piece of tan colored felt.  Next I sewed the entire scene to a square scrap of denim material from an old pair of Jesse's work jeans.

The "garage" pockets for the hotwheel, matchbox cars are also made from scrap denim.

I seriously love how well this little fold-up-and-go toy turned out.  I'm sure Gavin will have hours of fun using it!

What homemade toys have y'all made?

Have y'all been working on any sewing projects lately?

See also:

Repurposing Too Little Jeans to Skirt

Handmade Sunday Dress Shirt for Gavin

DIY Homemade Playdough Recipe