How to make a drinks coaster - tutorial

Having struggled to find any nice drinks coasters that would add a nice homely feel  I decided that I would make some!   These coasters have proved to be a practical way of protecting the furniture but also have the added benefit of creating a lovely personal touch to your home.   The finished coasters almost look too good to use (and I admit that was tempted not to but then what would be the point in that!!)  Anyway rest assured that  I have put mine in the washing machine to freshen them up and they have washed really well and look as good as new.

I hope you have fun making your own coasters by following the tutorial below.   Remember that you can change the template shape for anything that you like.  In this tutorial I have used a heart shape.

If you do follow the tutorial please let us know how you get on by leaving a comment on this blog.  We would love to see a picture of your finished coasters. 

Julie
x

 

 

What you will need:Linen – 14cm by 14cm
patterned fabric – to use to cut out heart template
Wadding – 14cm by 14cm
Heat n Bond

Step one
Cut out 2 pieces of linen fabric 14cm by 14cm.  I used my rotary cutter, self healing board and ruler as I find this gives the best results for cutting straight lines but you can use  scissors if you haven’t got these tools.
You will also need to cut out a piece of wadding measuring the same size (be careful not to cut this too small!  It is better to cut it slightly to big and trim it down later if you need to)

 

Step Two
Cut a piece of  Heat n bond just slightly bigger than you want your heart to be and iron (shiny side onto the wrong side of the material) on to one of the pieces of linen.

 

Step Three
Draw a heart shape onto the back of the heat n bond to provide a template,  then cut around the template and attached material to cut out the  heart template

Step FourOnce you have cut out the template remove the heat n bond paper from the back of the heart shape (it will leave a shiny residue on the back of the material) and iron onto the centre of one of your pieces of linen fabric.     The heart shaped material should now be secured to your linen fabric.

 

Step Five
Select a close zig zag stitch on your sewing machine and sew around the heart shape to secure to your fabric.

Step Six
Then place the 3 pieces of material on top of each other.   The  piece of linen with the heart on it should be placed at the front (right side facing up) then the other piece of linen on top and the piece of wadding on top of that.  Secure with pins and sew around the edge of the coaster with a straight stitch, leaving approx 3cm unsewn to enable you to turn the coaster inside out.

Step SevenSnip of the corners of the coaster before turning inside out and hand sewing the open seam.  This will make the corners of the finished coaster look nice and square.

 

Step Eight

To finish (optional) sew around the outside of the coaster with a straight stitch to edge it