Double-sided playmat-catchpatch - PIC HEAVY!

[bekibutton]

Not entirely sure what to call this! It was inspired by a book from the Eighties that I found in a charity shop and they referred to it as a playmat/catchpatch I've made it for my 18-month-old nephew who loves farm animals and has a wide selection of toy cars.

It's double sided, with a plastic town on one side and a fabric farm on the other. It could probably do with being ironed on the fabric side but as it's going to be folded and wrapped for Xmas I'm not sure there's much point!

Farm:


I tried not to make the farm too 'prescriptive' so that he has to use his imagination. We're getting him some wooden farm animals to go with it as part of his present

Details of the farmhouse and yard:





Detachable wheatsheafs:




'Ploughed' field: (bad pic, and actually brown in real life)

(Why are there always loose threads in Craftster pics?!)

Veg patch:

(with different numbers of different veg for counting practise when he's a bit older)

Town, complete with river, roundabout, shops, park and houses:


Close-up:


The rope around the edge acts as a drawstring to pull the mat up into a bag for storage - and also catches any toys that were on it in the bag - easy tidying!


Also, obligatory WIP + cat pic:


The playmat contains lightweight wadding to make it nice and soft. Hopefully between my nephew and their dog it'll stay relatively clean!! This was my first major sewing project and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Will update after Xmas Day if it was well received

[Leilani79]

This is really cute and a great idea! 

[krafty119]

I love it! Would you be willing to share directions?

Good job by the way! I am sure he is going to love it!

[pinokeeo]

This is a wonderful project.  Great for any child.

[kjlutz]

I love that this is double sided.  Great idea. 

[Ruby Copperhead]

Both sides are great and very inviting for playing. My kids would love it! (And I'd love the easy tidying )You made some great details on both sides, like the garden and the velcro pieces. How did you do the plastic side? What is the material? Did you draw on it or does it cover a drawing? Is it washable?

[TheSleepyKnitter]

Great idea! I especially love that it pulls into a bag. Thanks for sharing!

[KMOM13]

It is a really great idea and I am sure it will see a lot of playtime.

I can't tell from the pics how big the removable sheaths of wheat are, but if they are less than 1.75 inches long/wide you might want to consider taking them off and giving them to his Mom to put up for him when he is over 3 as toddlers tend to put everything in their mouth and it could be choking hazard, especially if he is running and falls down and it gets lodged in his throat. 

Here is a link to U.S. gov. guidelines for toy saftey.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/grand/toy/toysafe.html

[bekibutton]

Thank you for all the lovely replies

KMOM13, I tried to take the fact that he's under three into account, so I made the wheatsheafs are about three inches long and about an inch thick. I'm told by my sister that he doesn't put stuff in his mouth all that much but of course she can remove them for the time being if she wants to  Thanks for the link!

Ruby, glad you like the easy-tidying bit of it! I definitely thought of my sister when I made this, she hates tidying  The plastic side is some black PVC fabric that I got as a remnant from my local fabric shop, then sticky black plastic (Fablon-type stuff) for the coloured parts. I basically made it up as I went along rather than follow a drawing. Technically it is (hand) washable, the plastic side is wipeable and the fabric side is just cottons and felt.

krafty119, I will write a tute and post it elsewhere on Craftster and link to it from here

[sactownsue]

I've always loved these things. Haven't seen one for many years. I can see a kid getting years of play from one. So many possibilities. Lots of textures and shapes.
Looks like you used the adhesive type of Velcro. I've had terrible luck with that stuff. It makes things nasty sticky and doesn't really hold. Stick the Velcro together and it comes off. I'm not sure it's necessary if they're laying down anyway.