Easy Sewing Project- How to sew a Mug Rug

Sew your own little Mug Rug and keep those crumbs and water stains off the table! These are a cute way to add color and coziness to your morning cup of coffee or tea. Find the perfect cotton fabric here and get busy sewing!

Materials Needed:

2 Prints Cotton fabric, 1/4 yd each

5" by 7" piece of quilt batting 

Sew with ¼” seam allowance

Approximate finished size: 5" by 7" 

 

 For one Mug Rug, cut:

         2 rectangles 2 ¼” x 5”, one of each print

         1 rectangle 3 ¾” x 5” of main print

         1 rectangle 5” x 7” main print

         1 rectangle 5" x 7" batting

         1 strip of binding 28” x 1 ¼” same print as center piece

 

Step One:

Sew the 3 small rectangles together, with the main print on either side.

 

Step Two:

Iron open the allowance.

 

Step Three:

Layer the back facing outwards, the batting in middle, and pieced top face up. Pin in place.

 

Step Four:

Baste 1/8” around the edges.

 

Step Five:

Free quilt the center piece. ‘Stitch in the ditch' right along the seams beside the center piece. I used the edge of my sewing machine foot as a guide for the lines. Its 'anything goes' here, so you could sew curlys if you want!

 

Binding Step One:

Iron 1/8” under one long edge of the binding. This will go on the back side of the mug rug and finish neatly.

Start in the center of one side, give yourself about an inch of binding at the top, above where you start. You'll trim this later. Sew down to one corner, stopping ¼” from the edge. Remove the mug rug from the machine.

 

Binding Step Two:

Fold the binding straight up from the edge, not from where you stopped.

 

Binding Step Three:

Fold the binding straight back down until the folded top of the binding is level with the edge of the mug rug.

 

Binding Step Four:

Start sewing from the top, until you come to the next corner, and do the same steps again.

Snip the corner -binding only- open on the outer side of the stitching.

 

Binding Step Five:

Snip off the bulky corner of the binding, on the outer side of the stitching.

 

Finished binding should look something like this:

 

Step Six:

Iron the binding flat out from the center.

 

Step Seven:

Turn the mug rug over. Turn raw edges under 1/4". Iron the long edges down; pin in place.

 

Step Eight:

Iron the short edges down next; pin in place.

 

Step Nine:

Sew along the binding seam on the front. I used a blanket stitch, but you can use any decorative stitch or even a straight stitch. Another idea is to use Silky thread, or metallic thread for this step.

 

And that's it! You've made your very own Mug Rug! 

Click here to read more about Good's Store serving as a fabric store in Lancaster, PA.