How to Crochet Mat Edging

Thread a long strand of yarn onto an embroidery needle and tie a knot in the opposite end of the yarn.

Use the embroidery needle and yarn to create a blanket stitch edging on your mat. Start in one corner and bring the needle up from the back side of the mat to the front, approximately 1/2 inch in from the corner on both sides. Insert the needle back down into the mat from front to back, approximately 1/2 inch to the left of where you started. As you draw the yarn through the stitch, bring the needle back up and insert it through the loop the yarn makes; pull tightly. Your stitch will have a vertical and horizontal line going across the edge of the mat.

Repeat Step 2 to make more blanket stitching all along the perimeter of the mat. Fasten off by tying a knot in the yarn on the underside of the mat.

Insert your size US H crochet hook into the first blanket stitch you made, sliding the hook just under the horizontal bar of the stitch. Bring the working yarn (attached to the ball or skein) up and over the hook, catch it in the hook and draw it through the stitch. Yarn over again and draw through the loop on your hook to secure it.

Make a single crochet stitch in the top of every blanket stitch around the mat. When you reach the stitch closest to a corner, make three single crochets in that stitch to round the corner.

Join the last single crochet to the first with a slip stitch. Cut the working yarn with scissors, leaving a four-inch tail. Yarn over with this tail and pull it through the loop on the hook to secure it, then thread it onto your embroidery needle and weave it in and out of the border stitching on the underside of the mat to hide it.