DIY Sewing Machine Foot Pedal Mat – Non-Slip!

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I love my serger, but I do not love the dinky foot pedal it came with.

Its lightweight pedal slides all over the floor, and every once in a while, I find it hanging from my sewing desk if the cord gets caught in the back.

My solution?

Make a sewing machine foot pedal mat using a mouse pad!

My sewing room has hardwood floors, but I also tested my new non-slip foot pedal mat on our low-pile carpet, and this looks to be a great solution. 

I am SO thrilled and want to share this simple sewing hack so you can stop chasing your pedal all over the floor, too!

My Criteria for a Non-Slip Foot Mat

I wanted a foot controller pad with a base that was rubbery, grippy, and no-slip for any surface!  

The width and length of the base also needed to be relatively large to fit the pedals for all my machines. 

I also wanted to make sure I could change out foot pedals for my coverstitch or heavy-duty sewing machine, which I infrequently use. This is why I made sure the adhesion of the controller was interchangeable.

What’s even MORE awesome about using a mouse pad as a foot pedal pad is if you get one with wrist support, this functions as a stopper to keep the foot pedal from sliding forward! 

Here’s my mouse sitting on the pad I chose to use.

While I’m sure there are other mouse pads that work great and come in more colors than black, these are the two mouse pads that fit my criteria the best.

First, the Belkin WaveRest gel mouse pad and then the Quality Selection mouse pad.

The Belkin mouse pad was larger and thus my preferred mouse pad. However, it did have the brand name stamped on the bottom. 

The Quality Selection pad was unbranded but smaller. I decided to go for the larger pad and add a little pizzazz to cover the brand name!  

Supplies Needed

• Mouse pad (THIS is the Belkin one I used, and here’s the other one I also bought before I decided I wanted the larger one. Both had great grips!)
• Adhesive hook and loop fastener sheets or strips.  (Mine were from my craft box, but here are some on Amazon. )
• Scissors
• Something to put on the base to cover the brand name, if desired.

Making a Sewing Machine Foot Pedal Pad

The good news is this is a fast task that took me a grand total of one minute to make before I decided to add the extra pizzazz to cover the Belkin name.

First, I measured exactly where I wanted my foot pedal to go. 

The front base of the foot controller would be pushed directly up to the base of the wrist support, acting as a stopper.

I then adhered the hook portion of my hook and loop fastener to the mouse pad where the pedal would sit. 

After that, I adhered the loop portion of the fastener to the bottom of my foot pedal making sure to line the two pieces up.

Last, I connected the two pieces. 

All done! There was a good grip between the pad and the foot pedal.

I then took it a little farther and decided to embroider the word “Sew!” on a piece of pink fabric that matched the fabric I used when sewing my serger cover.

I turned the fabric sides under using temporary fabric glue.

Then, I stitched around the edge of the fabric and then adhered it to the mouse pad. This part took maybe 15 minutes, but not too bad–I like that it covers up the brand name.

My Experience After a Year of Use

Since my foot pedal pad sits on hardwood underneath my serger now, things get dusty and messy down there. 

Every once in a while I have to clean the floor and clean the bottom of the foot pedal pad to get its best grip. (I really need to start vacuuming more, but I only have so much free time after my kids go to bed.)

The hook and loop fastener has held up great, and I’ve been able to switch out my foot controllers when I switch out my serger space for my heavy-duty sewing machine.

Overall, I’d call this project a cheap and easy success!