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Make Your Own Veggie Bags

Every little bit helps when in comes to living greener. One way to make a difference is by using reusable produce bags, instead of plastic. While reducing your plastic use is an obvious benefit, the ventilation in mesh veggie bags can help your fruits and vegetables stay fresh longer and you can wash them right in the bag. Making your own bags also allows you to customize the bag size to the type of produce you buy regularly, getting rid of all that wadded up plastic in your vegetable drawer for a single lemon. On top of that, these bags look great, are strong, durable, and easily washable. It's pretty easy to "do the right thing" when it also makes your life easier.

Pair a set of bags with a grocery tote, some beautiful fruit, or a set of beeswax wraps for a thoughtful and useful gift any time of year. You can make up a set or two in a couple of hours max - and I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend the time with my sewing machine than braving the mall. 

On to the good part - making the bags! First you'll need to gather your materials: stretchy, fine mesh fabric (not netting, tulle, or large mesh), fabric for the top casing, cording, and toggle closures. The key to the best bags is finding the right fabric. Make sure your fabric has a fair amount of stretch to it to accommodate all shapes and sizes of produce. It should also be soft and have small holes in the mesh. Large holes can catch on stems or leaves, damaging your bag or your produce. Lastly, you want fabric that can tolerate a cool iron. Mesh fabric has a tendency to buckle and gather a bit when sewn, and pressing is the key to flat seams. 

We like Sensua Mesh fabric for this project. It has 25% four-way stretch, is 74% nylon 26% spandex, is cool iron friendly, and has tiny holes. We put together kits with everything you need to make four bags of varied sizes, or you can purchase the fabric and pattern separately. Kit's include instructions, 1/2 yard mesh fabric, casing fabric, cording, and 4 toggle closures.

 

We've made enough of these bags now to have a few tips to help ensure your process goes smoothly and your bags look amazing. 

• Use a walking foot if you have one.
• Start and finish your seams with a "bunny tail" (a small non-mesh fabric scrap).
• Use a wider seam allowance  - 3/8 to 5/8, depending on your machine and comfort level. If your seam is too narrow, the fabric can be pulled inside your machine. 
• Press all your seams. The fabric is very lightweight and stretchy, so has a tendency to ripple and gather a bit, pressing will keep it flat.
• Add your cording to the casing before you stitch it to the bag - so much easier than feeding it through after! Just be careful not to sew over it.
• Cut your casing piece 1/2" longer than you need. Pause at the end of stitching it to the bag and trim it to fit exactly. (Don't forget to leave enough to fold the raw edge over.)
• Use nylon cording. You can melt the ends so it won't ravel and the cording will hold up to lots of use.

(photo shows navy mesh and old scrap fabric, not fabric included in navy kit)

If you are making the four bags from the kit, they will all fit nicely inside the smallest bag for storage. Keep a set or two in your car, purse, or inside your grocery totes and you'll always be ready. These bags also work great as a laundry bag for delicates, or to hold artisan style bread that needs to breathe. 

D.I.Y. Beeswax Wraps

While you're thinking about gifts this year, consider giving a gift to our environment and try using beeswax wraps instead of plastic wrap. Beeswax wraps are a wonderful natural alternative for keeping food protected. Use them in a lunch bag to wrap a sandwich or a cookie. Wrap and store cheese, fruit, or vegetables in the refrigerator. Wrap up a baked good for a snack on the run or to share with a friend. Beeswax wraps work brilliantly with just about any cold, dry food. 

Besides being good to our environment, using beeswax wraps has other benefits. They're reusable, unlike plastic wrap, so they save you money. They're a natural product (only cotton, beeswax, and jojoba oil) and won't expose your food to any unknown chemicals. Our large round wraps also do double duty as a clean mat when eating your lunch, or snack, protecting you or your family from questionable public surfaces. If all that's not enough, they are darn cute to boot. 

Even though beeswax wraps are awesome, they aren't the same as plastic wrap. Don't wrap hot or warm food (the wax will melt). Also, don't try the old seal the bowl and flip it upside down trick they do in plastic wrap commercials--it won't be pretty. Beeswax wraps will not cling like plastic wrap, and they aren't air tight. That's a bonus for things like cheese, bread loaves, and produce that like to breathe, but they won't work well with liquids, food that turns brown, or to contain strong odors. 

If you've read other tutorials, it's likely you've seen some telling you that adding pine resin to your wrap will make it cling. We did a lot of testing and have to say that while yes it will add a tiny bit of tackiness, it's not worth it. The wraps still won't stick like plastic wrap and the resin makes the application process a lot more troublesome (it clumps!). If you want to use your wrap as a bowl cover, we recommend adding skinny elastic to the edges instead. You'll be much happier with the results. 

We also used our test runs to determine the best recipe and technique to use for a flexible wrap with no wax cracking or flaking off. In the end we felt a two part application had the very best results. It only takes an extra minute or two and the finished wrap is just as good as any store bought product. To make it easy for you to give making your own a try we created a video and instruction sheet with all the details.

 

Find the written instructions here.

Even better, we made kits with absolutely everything you need to make three large wraps. No need to search for food safe ingredients or buy huge amounts you won't use. Kits includes the oil and wax pre-mixed for you, enough fabric for three 14" circle wraps, hook & loop tape, and a 1" paint brush to apply the wax. It's all wrapped up in a wide mouth quart mason jar ready for you to melt your mixture in. All you'll need to complete your wraps is 20-30 minutes and a couple household supplies!

Kits feature Betty's Luncheonette fabric and come with two color options: pink and orange, or blue and green. They make a great gift as is, or enjoy making them yourself, then give one with a treat wrapped inside. We also offer beeswax wrap kits without the fabric, so you can use the fabric of your choice--just be sure to pick fabric that is 100% cotton. 

This is a gift you can feel good about giving!  Everyone can use them, and at less than $20 for three wraps you can give them to everyone on your list. 

Give Memories - Teach Kids to Sew

If you're reading this, it's likely that sewing and/or quilting are hobbies you love. Having the skill to make something for yourself is immensely satisfying, and crafting is a wonderful way to express your creative self. Sewing can soothe, comfort, inspire and be practical. This Christmas, share your passion and experience with the young people in your life by teaching them to sew. You'll be giving them a gift that lasts a lifetime and you'll get the gift of spending time together. 

Get kids excited to sew with simple projects styled just for them. Moda's Cut, Sew, Create collection by Stacy Iest Hsu is are ideal projects to start building their skills. Projects are designed to specifically appeal to today's kids and come in a range of difficulties. Start with the adorable and easy pillow critters, then move up to the lunch bag or zipper pouches as they gain confidence. 

To help you get great results Valori, and her daughter Violet, show you the best and easiest way to insert a zipper in the video below. You might learn something too :) 

Other children or beginner friendly projects you could try:

• PJ Pants
• Pillowcase
• Journal/Notebook Cover
• Decorative Pillow
• Little Wallet
• Wrap Skirt
• Simple Tote Bag
• 12" squares quilt

If you aren't a sewer, or your student's interest lies elsewhere, don't worry--you still have a lot of great options. For embroidery, take a look at the super cute Kiriki Dolls. Crochet lovers will adore the Toft animal kids. Both sets of kits come with everything you need for the project, and both are available in a variety of difficulty levels. A perfect project for new knitters is the Churchmouse Classroom: Stitch Sampler Handwarmers & Ribbed Scarf Pattern. Hand sewers might be interested in the popular Delilah Iris Designs stuffed unicorn or elephant kits. 

The key to a positive experience is picking a project they really love and are excited to make. Once they're invested in the project the desire to learn will follow.

It never hurts to remind beginners that mistakes are part of learning, and that no one is an expert their first time. Albert Einstein summed it up well when he said, "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." Part of the charm and appeal of handmade items are the little quirks and differences. It's a good lesson for all makers to learn. Make mistakes, laugh, move on, make some new mistakes--often it's those "mistakes" that turn out to be the thing you love the most. 

Shop Cut. Sew. Create. kits

Curvy Tree Ornaments - 12 Projects of Christmas #4

These ornaments are so cute you'll want to make an entire forest of them! Anyone would love to receive one as a hostess gift or package topper, but you probably won't want to part with your trees once they're done. 

You can make your curvy trees like we did with Jean's gentle curve piecing technique, or cut your fabric with straight lines in varying widths. This is a very forgiving project to practice Jean's techniques, because the size of the trees makes it easy to cut around any mistakes or areas that aren't laying flat. Either method looks great! 

The project below is for Jean's Stuffed Trees class and is an example of trees with the fabric cut in straight lines.

If you do want try Jean's gentle curves method you can watch her demonstrate the technique in this video...

Tips for tree success:

• When selecting fabric be sure to choose a range of value and print size. It's nice to include a few holiday prints, but not all your fabrics need to be holiday themed. 
• Use a small or medium sized rotary cutter and put a new blade in your cutter. Really--put in a new blade--you'll be thankful later.
• Trace tree template on heavy paper or template plastic. It's much easier to cut around the template, instead of through it, if it is thicker. 
• If using a tree limb for the trunk, use dry wood. Fresh cut wood can leak sap on your project (yes, we found out the hard way).
• Make sure to leave your turning opening at the center bottom of your tree so you can add and center the trunk.  
• Glue your tree trunk to your stuffing with hot glue. It holds better than liquid craft glue and it won't leak through to your fabric (unless you go way overboard on the amount of glue).
• Add the glue to your trunk and then push the trunk into the stuffing. If you add the glue to the stuffing it's much harder to insert your trunk.
• Don't stress if things aren't "'perfect". These trees are meant to be charming and quirky. 

We created a kit with everything you need to make 10+ trees (you will have extra fabric), or use up your green and holiday scraps.  Our kit includes 12 - 3" x 21" fabric strips, 1 fat quarter (for backing), 10 tree trunks, and cording for hanging. You can purchase the pattern only, as a PDF online or a printed version in the store. 

If you discover you love this technique, try Jean's Colorwork table runner. It looks stunning in holiday colors. Jean used all solids in her Christmas runner shown below. 

Jean's book Intuitive Color & Design is another wonderful resource for learning more about gentle curve piecing and Jean's other methods. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Be sure to sign up for our newsletters to receive all the information about this project and all the other 12 Projects of Christmas. 

Stitchin' Post's The 12 Projects of Christmas is a newsletter event. Each week starting in October we've selected a fun and fast project, perfect for gifting or holiday decorating. Every project is designed and selected by our experts to make it easy for you to find and craft stylish useful items everyone will love.

Messenger Bag - Embellishment Options

It's week three of our 12 Projects of Christmas newsletter series and this week we're making a messenger bag. Man or woman, boy or girl, everyone needs to carry things. A messenger bag is an ideal gift, especially for those hard to shop for men or teens. Fair warning though, once you make one, you'll want one for yourself too. 

Our pattern, written by Valori Wells, is the perfect size to hold all the essentials with pockets inside and out for extras. The bag is fully lined for a beautiful and durable finish. Experienced sewers can complete this bag in an afternoon, and all the straight line seams make the project achievable for confident beginners. 

Because the pattern will lead you through the construction of the bag, we are going to focus on ideas for customizing your bag. As you can see, the outside of our sample bag is embellished with a block printed pattern. You can carve your own or use a purchased stamp of your choice. In the video below Valori shows you how to properly ink a stamp and apply it to your bag.  

Try a simple pattern in one section of the bag like we did, or apply an all over pattern before you sew your sections together.

If you're an artist paint or draw your own design with fabric paint and/or pens. Pictured below is an example of our logo tote bag embellished with fabric paints by June Jaeger. We wrote a post about it and embroidering a tote last November. 

The front flap of the bag is a great spot to show off some applique, embroidery, or a combination of the two. Experiment with your own designs or choose a design from a book to spruce up your bag. We like Simply Stitched, Creative Stitching, Organic Applique and Organic Embroidery. Or, try one of our wool applique kits to add some color and texture. 

Instead of using a solid fabric for the large exterior piece customize your bag with your favorite patchwork, or simply add a stripe or other shape with contrasting fabrics like the bag pictured below. 

Not interested in coming up with your own designs for embellishment? Pick a fun print (this is a great time to show off a large scale print) and add a bit of stitching to enhance it (or just let the print shine on it's own). In the pictures below we added a simple embroidery stitch to a floral print. 

More ideas to customize the messenger bag:

• For a new parent: Baby/diaper bag - add some piping, pick a children's theme print, personalize it with an alphabet embroidery kit on the front and/or add a coordinating changing pad.

• For a quilter/sewer: Sewing kit  - personalize it with a pieced front flap and customized pocket sizes for tools
• For an artist: Portable supply kit - personalize it with a painted or mixed media front and add a pencil roll. Customize pockets for sketch book, paint brushes, pens, etc. 

• For a teen: Laptop bag - add soft and stable interfacing. Personalize it with an iron-on patch, applique their initials, or a stamped Kraftex patch. 

• For a man: Laptop bag - add soft and stable interfacing. Personalize it with a photo transfer, turn a favorite old T-shirt into an iron on or paint/stamp a simple geometric pattern. Although, some men might like it plain and simple made with canvas or denim.

• For a bike commuter: add padding to the strap and some reflective tape.
• For a Knitter/Crocheter: add fusible fleece interfacing to keep needles from poking through and a coordinating yarn/project bag. Customize pockets to hold notions.

With a minimum of thought, possibilities for customizing this bag are nearly endless.

Quick Note: The pattern doesn't require any interfacing, but if you want a more structured bag you will need some. We recommend Soft & Stable for a padded and firm but flexible bag. Great for laptops! If you want a softer bag with some structure use Fusible Fleece. Lastly if you'd like any of the pocket to be stiff (like the large inside pocket) use TimTex. All the options listed are washable. 

Shop for Messenger Bag Supplies -  

Kits: Messenger Bag, Applique

Fabric: Quilting Cotton, Canvas, Denim, Flannel 

Interfacing: Soft & Stable, Fusible Fleece, TimTex

Pattern: Printed, PDF

Books: Simply Stitched, Creative Stitching, Organic Applique, Organic Embroidery

 

 

 

 

Pincushions - Pretty Experiments

Every crafter needs a pincushion, or two, or three. Even more than that, crafters need a way to experiment. You can't grow or improve as a quilter without trying new techniques, patterns, and colorways. A small project, like a pincushion, can free you to experiment without the commitment and cost of a larger project. Smaller projects can also be a way to fit creating into our busy lives. Make a pincushion as an easy way to try that technique you've been wondering about, or to work with a new mix of colors. Jump in and play.

Besides feeding your creative self, pincushions make a wonderful gift. Making them for gifts also provides you with a very respectable reason to spend time sewing. "I'm sorry I can't do the laundry, I have to make a gift for the Secret Santa exchange!" Your spouse can't possibly complain about that. 

You can make pincushions from just about anything, including scraps, but we're going to take a look at two books. Pin Pals by Carrie Nelson and Bowl Me Over by Debbie Busby each offer many creative options and fun projects. We enjoyed both books so much, we used them as the project for one of our recent staff meetings. Everyone got a pattern and a set of fabric, and we went to town sewing and chatting. Most weren't quite finished during the staff meeting (too much talking), but all are relatively short projects and each book has as range of project difficulty and techniques to choose from. 

Pin Pals has 40 different patterns. These aren't your grandma's tomatoes, there is a little bit of everything in this book! Experiment with curves, applique, traditional blocks, strip piecing, triangles, precision piecing and hexies. We made the patterns: Solid Checkerboard, Random Strips, DNA, Ohio Star, Spokes, Beach Houses, Fresh-Cut Cube, and Bear Paw.

Bowl Me Over is a book of 37 "little pillows" and even more ideas. Projects are made from cotton and wool with embroidery stitches and wool applique. Fill a bowl with them, stack them on a shelf, or make them pincushions. If you've ever considered trying embroidery or applique this book is a wonderful way to get your feet wet. Debbie gives the reader thorough instructions for each project, but also offers general instructions and ideas to make your own variations. We made patterns: Welcome to Our Neck of the Woods, Be Strong, Nighttime Forest, and Little Cabin in the Woods.

Want more pincushion ideas? Check out our Pincushion Pinterest board. 

Now that you've made a pincushion, or ten, you need to fill it. In theory this is pretty simple, but in practice can be frustrating. 

First pick a filling. You can fill one with any number of things: rice, sand, sawdust or pellets. However, you will get the best results with a combination of poly-fil and crushed walnut shells. Use the poly-fill in corners, points and curves, then add the walnut shells for weight and firmness. 

Add your poly-fil first and using a tool like the Purple Thang push the stuffing firmly into all corners, other shapes, or edges you want to keep crisp. Then use a narrow neck funnel to add the crushed walnut shells until your pincushion is full and firm. Be sure to pause and give your cushion a shake to settle the shells, then continue adding more shells. You can also use the end of your funnel to push the shells into the corners and help them settle so you can fully fill your pincushion. Here's a quick video of us filling a pincushion.

 

You can find all the supplies you need for this project at Stitchin Post. 

Pin Pals Kit - Pin Pals Book - Bowl Me Over Book - Crushed Walnut Shells - Wool - Needles

Be sure to sign up for our newsletters to receive all the information about this project and all the other 12 Projects of Christmas. 

Stitchin' Post's The 12 Projects of Christmas is a newsletter event. Each week starting in October we've selected a fun and fast project, perfect for gifting or holiday decorating. Every project is designed and selected by our experts to make it easy for you to find and craft stylish useful items everyone will love.

Lucy & Logan - Freezer Paper Method for Machine Stitched Faces

Instead of 12 days of Christmas, we decided to do the holidays maker style with The 12 Projects of Christmas. We're starting a bit early, releasing a project a week, so there is plenty of time for crafting and for enjoying all the other seasonal events and celebrations during the holidays.

Let's kick off our crafting season with a great gift for kids. Lucy & Logan, adorable cat and dog stuffies, are sure to bring smiles Christmas morning or anytime. Enjoy making a few or gift a Lucy & Logan kit. Then you can spend time together teaching them how to make one for themselves.

Each animal can each be made in two sizes with a variety of suitable fabrics. Make a pair in flannel (like we did) for a special little one. Try one in school colors for older kids. You can even make a few for your favorite furry friends from canvas or denim. Although, Teyla likes the flannel ones just fine. 

The kitty below is one of the original Lucys, made from corduroy. Quilting cotton, light denim, linen, fleece, or even old clothing could all be used. 

No matter what options you choose, the key to any adorable plushy is the face. Luckily, sewing a cute face is easier than you think, and we're going to show you how to get great results with your sewing machine, even if you can't draw.

The pattern includs a face illustration to trace, and suggests you trace the face onto your fabric with a fabric pen or chalk marker. Then you sew your face with your machine or hand stitch. That method is a fine option, but can be difficult on darker fabrics. Tracing or drawing your face on freezer paper is foolproof, no matter your fabric color or type. Let's look at how to do it...

First, place your freezer paper over the pattern and trace the face as is or use the pattern face as a guideline for feature location and draw in your own face. The nice thing about this method is that you can keep tracing, or drawing, faces until you have exactly the face you want. In the pictures, Lucy's (the small cat) face was traced from the pattern and for Logan's (the bigger dog) face the pattern was used as a guideline. His nose is rounder and his eyes were changed slightly. Use a pen that is the same, or close to, the color of thread you plan to use to stitch the face (unless you're stitching in white) to draw the pattern. Color in the nose and irises. Be sure to draw on the matte (top side) of the freezer paper. 

Once drawn, cut around your face so it will fit on your cut fabric body. Place your freezer paper face on the right side of your body piece, with shiny side down, centered on the head.

Press the freezer paper to the fabric, holding the iron for a few seconds. Your interfacing should already be on the wrong side of your head (see above). Don't use double sided fusible web, or you will end up fusing your animal to your ironing board!

You're ready to sew. Use a free motion, or walking foot (pictured), and follow the lines drawn filling in the nose and irises with a back and forth (walking foot) or circular (free motion foot) stitch. Be sure you stitch over each drawn line twice so the face will be clear. Back-tack at the start and end of any stitching. 

All that's left is to tear away the freezer paper. Use your seam ripper to get any small pieces of paper remaining. Don't worry about removing the paper from the nose or irises. That's why we colored it in. The paper helps those areas look more solid and you don't have to spend an hour picking out little white scraps. Win-win! 

Keep following the pattern from here and in no time you'll have a new cuddly cutie. 

Find all the supplies you need for this project at Stitchin' Post. 

Lucy & Logan Kits  -  Lucy & Logan Pattern  -  Farmhouse Flannel  -  All Fabric

Be sure to sign up for our newsletters to receive all the information about this project and all the other 12 Projects of Christmas. 

Stitchin' Post's The 12 Projects of Christmas is a newsletter event. Each week starting in October we've selected a fun and fast project, perfect for gifting or holiday decorating. Every project is designed and selected by our experts to make it easy for you to find and craft stylish useful items everyone will love. 

Wrap It Up

When I go to all the effort of selecting, or making a gift, I want the wrapping to look great too. I’m not crazy about all the waste created though, and I’m really not crazy about running to the store Christmas Eve to fight it out for the last roll of wrapping paper.

This year I’m avoiding both. I’m not buying any paper, ribbon or bows. I’m going to use my scraps, stash fabric, and maybe a few extra fat quarters.

Fabric makes beautiful, unique wrapping and saves money. It’s even good for the environment. Win, win! You can use everything from a handful of tiny strips to larger pieces of fabric. You don’t have to stick with holiday theme fabrics either. Get creative.

I chose a red, green and grey color scheme for my examples. All the wrapping came from scraps collected from around the shop.

This bar of soap is topped with an assortment of scrap ends tied in the middle, and trimmed even. Use the same general procedure as making a pompom (also a great gift topper). The soap was so pretty on its own, all I did was tie my fabric pompom on with an extra strip of fabric, then scrunch all the strips with my fingers.

This gift is wrapped in a long strip of fabric that I brought around the ends toward the top, the twisted the two ends around each other, pulled the ends to the back, around the sides, and pinned in place. Simple and pretty, plus the receiver will have a piece of fabric large enough to use. 

I wrapped this box in a Christmas print and added a “bow” made from tying three 1” x 4” wool scraps together with the ends folded under on the top two.

Once you start, more and more ideas will come to you. Add a fabric strip to a pre-printed box. Use yarn, metallic thread, or skinny fabric strips instead of ribbon. Try layering two to three fabrics together.

For larger gifts wrap in craft, or freezer paper, and add fabric ribbon or bows.

You can also make the wrapping part of the gift. Give a pattern, and wrap it with the fabric to make it.

Make our free Download FabricGiftBoxes to hold a small gift.

Happy wrapping!

-Samantha

D.I.Y. Fabric Chain Tutorial

Half the fun of Christmas is decorating. Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, my daughter and I make a big batch of Chex Mix, put on Christmas carols and go to town transforming the house for the holiday.

I have my fair share of store-bought decorations, but my favorites are the ones someone made. One year my son brought home a red, green, and liberally glittered paper chain from school. Like all mothers, I proudly put it on the tree, and secretly thought it was hideous.

It got me thinking about how it could be something beautiful, though. I pulled out some red and green felt and made my own version. My son is grown now, but I’m still hanging my felt chain every year, and every year someone asks me where I bought it.

I made a new chain for the shop this year using wool flannel. I stuck with traditional red and green, then added a bit of grey wool and metallic thread to spiff it up. I love the old school kitsch of the chain, with the sophistication of the wool and the tiny bit of sparkle. Classy and fun. 

To make your own chain, you need three wool fat eighths (or more), fabric glue, and heavy thread or embroidery floss.

You don’t have to stick with the traditional red and green, or even three colors. Try red and gold, blue and silver, or go for a monochromatic color scheme with 3-5 shades of the same color. Have fun with it.

With three fat eighths the finished chain is 16 feet. Plenty long enough to wrap around your tree or hang over your mantle. You could even use one to add some cheer to your office. We wrapped ours around the big pole by the check out counter. 

Materials: Sue Spargo Wool fat eighths in Holly Berry, Avocado, and Charcoal, Dazzle thread, and Aileen’s Tacky Glue. I also used Hiroshima embroidery needles to add my thread accent, and I have to say they are wonderful needles. A real joy to work with.

Instructions: Cut your fat eights into 1” x 6” strips. Place your strips in piles by color. Glue your 1st strip in a circle overlapping the ends about 1 inch. Repeat with all remaining strips, threading your next strip through your last circle and alternating colors, as you add circles to your chain. Using your choice of thread, hand stitch an X on the overlapped portion.

This tutorial is our 12/05/2018 advent calendar feature. Products linked in this post will be 10% off that day only. 

I hope you enjoy this project!

Cheers,

Samantha

Wine Coasters - Tutorial

It's party time! December is full of holiday events and family get togethers, and with them comes the ever present problem of figuring out which glass is yours. Especially if you've already had a drink or two :) 

Wine charms are the classic solution, but they don't protect your furniture (and they're not as fun to make).

Why not make yourself, or your host a set of wine coasters? I'll show you how.

I got carried away with holiday spirit, and made two different styles of wine coasters. A stitched and cut wool set (above), and a fun mixed print fabric set (below). Both styles are quick to make and use minimal materials.

The wool coasters are made with one pack of 5" WoolWerks squares, and some contrasting thread. I love how they turned out!

I used the Merry n Bright color-way for my set. Each package has enough squares to make five coasters. I used two of my squares to test out stitch patterns, so my set only has four coasters. 

To make the coasters, print the template and stitch through the paper along the pattern (1). Once you've removed the paper (2) all you need to do is trim (3-4), cut your bottom circle, and glue the two together. 

For full, detailed, instructions download the free Wooly Wine Coasters pattern. Materials: WoolWerks 5" pre-felted wool squares, thread, craft glue. 

We carry four color-ways of WoolWerks so you can go crazy making coasters and still have unique combinations. 

Use a small (14mm) rotary cutter and a sharp pair of pointed tip scissors. They will greatly improve your results, and mood. We won't talk about what was said, when I tried cutting my circle out with a large rotary cutter. Also, be sure to use a good quality glue that is made for fabric. Ordinary glue will soak into the wool and not hold the two layers together. 

The fabric coasters are even easier to make than the wool. In simplest terms: you cut 5 circles, sew one seam, clip and flip. I think that qualifies as easy, but they don't look it!

Depending on the fabric combination you choose, the coasters can look modern, classic, or funky. You can choose fabrics to match a theme (holiday, birthday, etc.), your favorite colors, or coordinate with your decor.

We sold out of the fat quarter bundle I used in my coasters, but there are so many options that would look great. 

We have some fun holiday 6 packs, sophisticated white Christmas 6 packs, and a number of beautiful non-holiday options. 

For full, detailed, instructions download the free Fabric Wine Coasters  pattern. Materials: 6 fat quarters, 15" x 20" cotton batting, & thread. 

If you found this post in our December 1st Advent Calendar Newsletter... Hi, So glad you came! Don't forget that materials featured in advent calendar newsletters are 10% off for that day only. 

If you found this post, but don't get our newsletters, and want to, sign up here. December 1st, 2018 only, all materials linked in this post are 10% off. 

Cheers,

Samantha