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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Mouse Pad Makeover

I've slowly been making changes to my home office to make it feel more harmonious. My latest project was to get rid of my old mousepad and replace it with something that matches the bits of blue I've added the around my desk. But instead of replacing it, I gave it a makeover. Here is how you can do the same with your favorite fabric, a used mousepad and some heat activated adhesive. So easy and rewarding.










Materials:
1 Used Mousepad
Fabric of Your Choice (just enough to cover the mousepad) - I found this one at Joann's
Heat Activated Fabric Adhesive Sheet - I used "Lite Steam-A-Steam2" from Joann's
Scissors
Piping for the edge (optional, and available at Joann's)
Fabric Glue (available at, you guessed it, Joann's)

Process:
1. Remove 1 side of backing from the adhesive sheet and place sticky side down to your freshly ironed fabric on the non-printed side.





2. Place your mousepad on the adhesive sheet and trace.


3. Cut the fabric, with the adhesive sheet stuck to it, along the traced shape of the mousepad.



4. Peal the 2nd backing off the adhesive sheet, leaving the adhesive behind.



5. Carefully place your mousepad onto the newly exposed adhesive sheet. Your fabric is now loosely and temporarily adhered to the mousepad.
6. Flip the mousepad so the fabric side is up and iron 10-15seconds in each area across the surface (follow instructions on the adhesive sheets you buy)


7. Trim off any excess material along the edges. Your mousepad should now look something like this. You can stop here if you'd like.


8. To disguise any freyed edges or crooked cuts, add some piping. Glue around the perimeter with fabric glue. Make sure your piping doesn't sit too much above the surface of the mousepad or it will be annoying when you are mousing.



8. Trim any excess material on the piping as needed so your mousepad will sit flat.



Your finished mousepad with piping will look something like this:


26 comments:

  1. good idea. Mouse pads get so funky after awhile this will breathe some new life into them.
    mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome!! Why didn't I think of this?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very clever and what a great way to presonalize a mouse pad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you know the name/brand of the fabric used here? It would be perfect for my kitchen curtains!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Anomymous,

    Unfortunately I do not know the name brand, but I bought it at Joann's. I can check next time I'm there if you want. Just provide me with your email address. (You can email me if you go to my profile)

    -Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  6. For others of you interested, the fabric can be ordered online: http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat2837&PRODID=xprd540628

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great idea. Would never have come up with this on my own. I will have to dig through my bin of fabric scraps. Thanks for the tutorial

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