Free Embroidery Wool Applique Pattern: St. Patrick's Day Mug Cozies

I love St. Patrick's day, and decorate in a number of different ways every year. These St. Pat's embroidered mug wraps are my newest addition for this year, and I'm looking forward to serving Irish coffee in style. A mug cozy made of layers of felt will keep hot drinks warmer longer, and a stack of themed mug wraps is simpler by far to store than a set of themed mugs would be. These are a great way to make a set of matching mugs for a party or special occasion out of a group of gathered together mismatching mugs with disparate patterns.

To make one mug cozy like this one, you will need:

Two rectangles of green felt, 9X3 inches

Two 3x3 inch pieces each of white and gold felt

White, Gold and Green embroidery floss

4 pieces of 1/8 inch white ribbon about 8 inches long

A Disappearing Marking Pen

Standard sewing supplies, such as needle, thimble, pins, scissors

To make a set of mug cozies, multiple these supplies by the number of desired wraps.

Cut all the pieces of felt before beginning. Trace a round object about an inch or so in diameter onto the white felt using the disappearing marking pen. I traced the end of a spool of sewing thread for my white circles. Cut these out, and holding them against the gold felt, trim around so that the gold is about 1/8 to ¼ of an inch bigger than the white all around. I just estimated this while I cut, but you could mark this line as well, if you'd like a more exact circle.

Write the words "LUCKY DAY", or the phrase of your choice, onto the center of one piece of green felt. Embroider this using six strands of white embroidery floss and a back stitch.

On the center of the two white circles, embroider shamrocks with three strands of green embroidery floss.. I embroidered this free hand by making open ended heart shapes using two straight stitches for the sides and two open lazy daisy stitches for the top. Three of these heart shapes, and an arching stem in backstitch will make a three leaf clover. You can also draw the shamrock with the fabric pen and embroider it completely in back stitch if you wish.

Center one of the white circles on a gold circle, and stitch it in place using a whip stitch and three strands of white floss. Repeat this for the other set of circles. Then stitch the gold circles to either end of the green felt using a whip stitch and three strands of gold embroidery floss.

After all the appliqué and embroidery have been finished, use six strands of gold embroidery floss, and a running stitch to sew the backing of the mug cozy to the main piece, wrong sides together. Bury the thread end between the two layers of the cozy to tie it off.

Sew a piece of white ribbon to the back of the mug wrap at each corner, and use these to tie the cozy snugly around a standard sized mug.