How to Make Fabric Coasters

We are a family of drinkers. I say that with a straight face and add this sentence: Iced tea, lemonade and icy juice drinks in sweaty glasses can be a problem for tabletops in the summer time.So if your family drinks as much as ours, lots of coasters might be a good thing to throw around. I don't like the clunky ones I often find in stores though.

To me, they look like hockey pucks or some form of gaming device. Or else they're heavy enough to cause a lethal head injury of accidentally tossed at a guest. They end up on the floor, where I step on them, or spread across the table and not in their neat little holders that end up on the floor also.

I started making fabric coasters as Christmas gifts a few years ago and now have all sorts of holiday ones, and seasonal ones and fun jaunty party ones. They're cheap and easy to make out of scraps you probably already have in your sewing supply. If not, buy some fat quarters at the fabric store for a buck or check out the remnant carts where you can buy lots of fabric for under a dollar.

Supplies:

Material scraps

Steam a Seam from the Warm Company

Felt scraps

A sewing machine, although you can stitch them by hand

Thread, pinking shears, pins

Method

Step one: Cut a 3 in. square of fabric with pinking shears. And cut a 3 and ¼ inch piece of wool felt in a coordinating color.

Step two: Cut a square backing liner from the Steam a Seam lining about 1/8 inch smaller than the fabric square. I usually make a 3 inch square cardboard template to cut out my fabric squares, and then I lay it on the Steam a seam, and trace around it. I then cut inside the lines to get my smaller square for the lining. For the wool felt, I trace the 3 inch square and then cut outside the line, about ¼ inch margin.

Step three: Remove the backing the Steam a Seam and center in onto a piece of wool felt and fuse the two together with an iron.

Step four: Center the fabric wrong side onto the Steam a Seam Felt Square and pin, then sew a straight edge around the entire square ¼ inch in from the edge.

Your are done. You have a nice flat, pretty coaster that will absorb moisture, protect your table, and can be changed out easily when you're bored with that design. If you they fall on the floor, they won't stub your toe when you trip on them, and they won't break. The children can't cause bodily damage to each other when they play, Catch the Coaster!

Have fun creating art for your home! And watch that drinking! Lemonade can be quite potent, especially if you turn it into Margaritas!