With the offseason in full bloom, I have been eagerly finding ways to step up my flat lay game.
I have been doing some research and blog reading and came across this ingenious tutorial by Mary Ann Craddock Photography – I tried it out and absolutely loved it! So here I am to continue to share it. Mary goes into a lot of detail on different fabrics she tried out, which is awesome! For the simplicity of my tutorial, I used one type of 100% cotton fabric.
If you’re like me, spending $125 on a rollable styling mat may not be in the budget right now, let alone purchasing multiple. This is why when this flat lay mat tutorial came up, I was SO excited that I would have everything except for two items already in my house.
MATERIALS
- 1 yd. Fabric (any kind/design that you’d like for your flat lay mat. I used Sew Classic Hopsack Linen Fabric, as Mary Ann Craddock recommended. (Note that cotton, faux leather, or suede works best so there is no shine when you’re laying items down on it.)
- 1 yd. Pellon 71F Peltex One Sided Fusible Ultra Firm Stabilizer (currently on sale at JoAnns!)
- Fabric glue
- Fabric scissors
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Towel
PROCESS
Prep by turning on your iron so that it will be ready to use when the first three steps are completed.
Step 1
First, cut the Pellon to however long you want your styling mat to be. This will be the base.
Step 1: Cut the Pellon to desired length.
STEP 2
Cut your fabric to be slightly larger than the Pellon. You can lay it on top to measure! It won’t stick to it just yet.
Step 2: Cut fabric to desired length, slightly longer than the Pellon.
STEP 3
Place the Pellon on the ironing board, and then put the fabric on top. Make sure if there are any lines on your fabric that they are straight.
STEP 4
Lay a hand towel on top of the area that you are going to iron first. This keeps the fabric from getting too hot and color damaged. The instructions for my Pellon fusible stabilizer instructed me to stay in each area for around 15 seconds, so I continually moved my iron in place for 15 seconds in each spot. I found that applying steam sped up the process a bit.
Continue this process around the whole mat until the fabric has completely fused to the Pellon. You’ll know this is the case when the edges don’t peel up.
Step 4: Fuse the fabric and Pellon by ironing.
STEP 5
Lay the mat upside down on a flat surface, cut the excess fabric so that it is even, leaving about 1 inch remaining on all sides.
STEP 6
Apply fabric glue to the edges that are leftover and fold them over the back. Ensure the edges are glued down and dried before flipping the mat over.
Steps 5&6: Apply fabric glue to edges of fabric and fold them over.
Voila!
Just like that, in six simple steps, you have made your very own rollable styling flat lay mat. And the best part is, it is super affordable! Depending on what type of fabric you purchase, you can make this mat for just over $10 per piece. I absolutely love DIY photography hacks, and I am so glad that I came across this one. Stay tuned for more soon!
