When I created my blackwork mugs design, I envisioned them finished up as mug rugs. Practical and pretty!
These are the steps I took to create the mug rugs:
First, I trimmed my stitched designs to 3 inches wide by 3.25 inches long (having stitched the designs on 18 count Aida).
I chose two fabrics – I had fat quarters but didn’t use even half of each.
I cut 10 strips of each fabric measuring 1.25 inches wide by 3.25 inches long.
With right sides together, I sewed alternating strips of fabric to the long side of each stitched design using a quarter inch seam.
I pressed the seams open as I went.
I continued adding alternating fabric strips, pressing seams open after each addition.
My mug rug tops now measured about 6.5 inches wide, more or less. So I cut four strips of each fabric and trimmed them to size after sewing them on. My quilting teacher would have a bird that I didn’t measure precisely!
Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration – she is far too nice to have a bird – but she probably would raise her eyebrows 🙂
I measured carefully for the next step though. I squared up and trimmed the mug rug tops to 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches and then cut two pieces of each fabric to the same size for the backing and four pieces of quilting material (quilt batting).
To make the quilt sandwich, I placed one mug rug top right sides together with one mug rug bottom, and then laid the quilting material on top of that.
I sewed a quarter inch seam all around, remembering to leave an opening so that I could turn everything right-side out.
I hand-stitched the opening closed:
The final step was to sew a quarter inch top seam all the way around the edges.
And my mug rugs were finished and ready to use or to give as a gift.
If you stitch up the mugs or try out the mug rug tutorial send me your photos or use #stormsstitches on Instagram, I’d love to see how they’ve turned out!
Happy Stitching!
