I am so tired of walking up stairs. Three flights really don't seem like much, but it becomes tiring very quickly after lugging boxes up and down those three flights at least 20 times in one day. But if that's what it takes to move into a beautiful, wonderful, spacious apartment with my boyfriend, I'll do it. And I did! Drew and I are moved in and (almost) settled in.
We were fortunate enough to have gotten furniture from the previous renters so we moved into a partially furnished place. There is even a loft for my own sewing space! I have to bring my desk here so for now, my sewing space is crammed.
As soon as we sat down and had a drink to relax, I realized we needed coasters for our coffee table! But why spend money I don't have on something fairly simple to make? Here are my new coasters and a tutorial! I didn't want coasters that were very thick so these only have one layer in between the cotton squares. These can be extremely customizable not only in fabric choices but in size, stitching design and thickness.
This is a great project for beginners who want to practice straight stitching or for those who have bits of leftover fabric just laying around and an hour or two for a project.
What you will need:
- Fabric: (It took less than a quarter yard of cotton to make 4 but it depends on how many coasters you are going to make)
- Interior Batting: I used a light felt but if you have another type of batting, that can be used as well.
- Marking Tool: A pen is my favorite tool but for beginners, a water soluble marker or pencil is best.
- Sewing machine, Thread, Ruler & Scissors
I'm going to be writing the instructions based on 4 coasters, but these can be used for any number you decide on.
Step 1. Cut 8 5"x5" squares of your cotton fabric. And 4 5"x5" squares of interior (felt). At this point, if you would like thicker coasters, cut an additional 4 squares.
Step 2. Pin layers together. Interior first, then lay first square of cotton right side up, and second square of cotton right side down (so both of your right sides are together). Pin together. At this point, you can mark where to leave an opening to turn the coaster inside out. I first left about 1" but realized 2" is best.
Step 3. Sew around square leaving 1/4" seam allowance. I lined the raw edge of the fabric up against the side of my presser foot. If your foot has a larger or smaller side than 1/4" you can still use 1/4" as seam allowance. This will make the final size 4.5"x4.5". If you want to make it 4" x 4", leave a 1/2" seam allowance.
Step 4. Trim the corners. Turn right side out, using a pointed end to poke out the corners. Iron your coasters, turn in the raw edge and pin.
Step 5. Sew around coasters at 3/16 ths of an inch. (I have lines on my sewing machine to show me where this is, but it is the line after the 1/8th). These measurements are the ones I used, you do not have to use them if the small seam allowance is not something you are used to as a beginner.
Step 4. The final step is to do my version of quilting! This is a good spot to use your marking tool to mark where you want your lines to be. Again, I used my presser foot to gauge the lines and it just happened to turn out evenly. If you used different seam allowances, it is best to mark your lines. My lines are all 1/4" apart. You can choose to make them bigger, smaller or you can do any crazy stitching you would like!
And you are done!
I made a few extras out of the leftover fabrics that I'll hopefully get on etsy soon.
If you make some of your own, be sure to share!
