How to Make a Scrap Fabric Easter Egg Mug Rug
Got lots of leftover fabric scraps you want to use up? These egg shaped mug rug/coasters are perfect for using up your little strips of fabric, and are a great introduction to quilting for beginners. Plus they take no time at all to whip up... you can easily do a set in an afternoon!
Project by Amy Gilbert
How to Make a Scrap Fabric Easter Egg Mug Rug
You Will Need
- Strips of fabric, ideally cottons and/or similar fabrics, about 15cm long - I used ditsy stars lavender and pink polka dot cotton poplins
- Pieces of backing fabric large enough to fit the egg template
- Felt
- White Gutermann thread col 111
- Egg Template
- Fabric marker/chalk
- Pins
How to Make
1. Start by cutting your strips to size if you haven't already. My strips were about 6cm wide, but you can make them as narrow or wide as you prefer, and add as many as you prefer. The thinner they are, the more stripes your eggs will have.
2. Begin piecing the strips together. Take two strips and place right sides together, matching the long edges together. Don't worry if they aren't exactly the same length. Stitch together with around a 7mm seam allowance, and press the seam flat.
3. Start adding more strips - repeat the above step on the opposite long edge of a strip you have just sewn. Keep adding and pressing the seams, until you have a piece of patchwork fabric big enough to fit the egg template.
4. Now pin your egg template to the wrong side of your patchwork fabric, and draw around it with a marker (this is to help guide your seam later). Then cut out, adding a seam allowance of around 7mm all around.
5. Pin and cut around the template again with a 7mm seam allowance, onto your piece of backing fabric. You don't need to mark the shape on this. Repeat on your piece of felt.
6. Pin your felt to the wrong side of your backing fabric. Now you are going to do some basic quilting! Use your machine to sew lines of stitching every 2cm or so down the egg. This will look pretty and hold the felt in place too!
7. Now you need to sandwich your pieces together. Place the front and the back pieces with the right sides of the fabric facing each other on the inside, and carefully stitch along the line you drew on the back of the patchwork piece. Be patient as sewing the curves can be a little tricky, but taking your time pays off for a beautiful shaped egg! Make sure to leave an inch gap at the bottom of the egg shape unsewn so you can turn it out.
8. Turn the fabric right sides out - this can be a little tricky due to the felt but persevere! The easiest way is to try and grab hold of the top point on the inside and pull through from there.
9. Once right sides are out, press flat with your iron quickly, then use a hand sewing needle to ladder stitch the gap at the bottom.
10. Finish off by top stitching around the edge of the shape with roughly a 7mm seam allowance - you should be able to follow it easily where the felt in the seam allowance on the inside is doubled over, which gives you a nice reinforced border too!
