Chalk Cloth Playmat

Have any of you ever used chalk cloth before? I recently bought some to make travel playmats for a school fundraising project. I wasn't sure how well chalk could write on fabric, but it's actually pretty cool. I even tried it with wet chalk and that also worked. I was looking for chalk pens at my local craft stores but they didn't have any and I didn't have time to order any on El Internet.

I also bought some laminated fabric at my local fabric shop for the reverse side of the playmat. 

 

I cut a small square from the dot fabric to make a pocket to hold the chalk. Next time I would also stitch vertically on the pocket to make snug tubes for the chalk to slide in. The way I did it the chalk falls out too easily. When stitching the two layers together I attached ribbon on one side for permanent ties. I also used contrasting thread the same color as the dots and used a long stitch length. The sewing foot moved with no problem along the chalk cloth side of fabric. It was a little "sticky" sewing on the chalk pocket so I used some tissue paper to help. I also used a wide seam so that after they were sewn together I could pink the edges evenly. The two layers moved a little while sewing and next time I would probably use a little fabric glue to keep them together.

 

Overall they were really easy to make and turned out better than I expected. You know, I say that a lot. I guess I just expect projects to be a pain and not turn out as planned.