1 Hour Sewing Project – Valentine’s Mug Rug
Today is February 14th, the Valentine’s day! What are you planning for tonight? Steak? Candlelight? Roses? How about getting yourself in the spirit of Valentines and showing your special someone some handmade craft that can be done in a quick fashion? The mug rug as you might have recalled in the macarons post a few days ago is here. I will show you how to get it done in 1 hour! Make it extra special and design whatever you want but with mine I used Hello Kitty and a little cupcake with hearts floating in the air.
First of all we need some fabric scraps. Cotton/cotton blends with Valentine themes are wonderful for this project because they’re easy to sew. Be careful when you use different types of fabrics especially with sticky or slippery fabrics.
For the mug rub we’re making today, I’m using the following:
1 rectangle of pink 6″ x 8″ (top left)
1 rectangle of red Hello Kitty 7″ x 8″ (top right)
1 rectangle of flower 12″ x 8″ (bottom)
Cut off of a cupcake and some heart shape
Here’re the notions we’ll be using:
pins
matching all purpose threads
scissors/pinking shears
rotary cutter and mat
ruler
iron and ironing board
tweezers for turning corners
Pellon Wonder Under
Fusible Batting
sewing machine
Using the rotary cutter and the mat, cut your fabrics.
Pinning the top left and right pieces right sides together and pin inside the seam allowance.
For the measurements we gave in this project, use 1/2″ seam allowance. If you choose the standard 5/8″ SA, you’re going to recalculate the size of material accordingly.
Press the seam allowance to the darker fabric side so it won’t show. Also to prevent raveling, trim the edge with a pinking shear.
Now we have the top piece of the mug rug. It’s time for the applique. Place the cupcake and heart shapes on it and arrange to your desired location. Make sure to take seam allowance into consideration.
Using Pellon Wonder Under, attach the applique on the right side of the fabric following the instruction.
Using applique stitch (blanket stitch) to secure the raw edges. You can also use zig zag stitch.
When there’s a loose thread at the end, you can use a hand sewing needle to sew it to the wrong side (back) of the fabric so it looks neat on the right side.
To give the rug some loft, we’re attaching a fusible batting on the wrong side of the top material. You can cut the batting the same size as the fabric, but I like to cut mine a little smaller.
Pin the bottom and top right sides together and bring it to the sewing machine. Sew the two pieces together leaving some space for turning. Press the seam to set the stitches.
Trim the edges again using the pinking shear and clip the corner diagonally close to the seam.
Turn the fabrics inside out, or you can call it right side out. Topstitch the edges using an edge stitch foot. It’s not necessary to hand stitch the opening. But if you’d like, you could hand stitch to make sure the seam is sealed.
We’re finished!
By the way if you’re curious about the tea I’m having, it’s Sweet Love by Kusmi. I love how it has the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. A few pieces of lemon peel further enhances the flavor.
Hope everyone have a sweet Valentine’s Day!
