Have you ever come across a beautiful large print fabric that you wanted to see every day? That’s how I felt when I first saw this fabric! After some project planning (and drinking many cups of tea), it dawned on me that these flowers could perfectly fit my tea cup! With some cutting, a little sewing, and a bit of detailed stitching, these coasters sit happily in my sewing space! Below are steps to create your own coasters!
Janome Supplies Required
- Main fabric with a large enough print that a cup can comfortably sit atop. Depending on your print and how many coasters you want to make, you will need 1/4 – 1/2 yard of fabric. This project works best if you can see your design from the wrong side of the fabric. (TIP: look for prints that don’t have too much intricate linework) Looking for something other than florals? Look for animal designs or seasonal/holiday themes (Leaves for fall, ornaments for Christmas!)
- Lining fabric for the bottom of your coaster. This can be the same as your main fabric, or something coordinating
- Quilting Batting
- Thread for applique stitch, thread for detailed stitching (optional)
I am sewing on the Janome Memory Craft 15000 and using my F foot (Satin Stitch)
Instructions
Sewing Steps:
With a pencil or water-soluble marking tool, mark the perimeter around the design you want to use. Leave at least 3/8″ space to cut. Continue this step for as many coasters as you wish to make.
Using your cut circles as a template, trace these shapes onto your lining fabric, with right sides facing together.
Stack your two cut fabrics onto your batting. We are creating a fabric stack- from the top – main fabric wrong side up, lining right side up, and batting layer. Cut your shapes once again. You can add a second layer of batting for a thicker coaster, but for this set, I used one layer. We are leaving our stack in this order to sew.
On each piece, mark where to leave an opening to turn your coaster right sides out. Try to pick a spot with a straighter line that is roughly 1 1/2″- 2″.
Baste all the way around your coaster, roughly 3/8″ from the outline of your design, leaving the opening clear of stitching.
Using your satin stitch foot, stitch close to your design. I lined the open edge of my presser foot (next to my red triangle) up to the border of my flower, which left about 1/16″ of space. When my coaster gets flipped right sides out, I will be able to see the full black border. Again, leave an opening to turn your coaster!
Trim all the way around your design. Get close to your stitching, but be careful not to cut through. Leave more seam allowance at the coaster opening. If you have some tight spaces, clip into corners (but not through stitching!)
Turn coasters right sides out and press. Using a turning tool, push fabric out, making sure all your corners are turned out. Turn the seam allowance of your coaster opening in and press. You can either top stitch this seam or hand stitch shut. Mine is topstitched.
I wanted the edges of my coasters to pop, and to be able to hide some of the spots where I couldn’t sew close enough to my flower, so I added an applique stitch all the way around my coaster! This step is optional but I love the final look!
Final step is to add some detail stitching! On each flower I added stitching in a lighter color thread to make the design pop!
