Molly's Sketchbook: Citrus Coasters
Ever since the weather turned warm, I've had visions of pink lemonade and iced tea with lime wedges dancing in my head. Summer also puts me in the mood to entertain so I thought it would be fun to have a set of coasters to match this citrus drink theme.
I love to have a summer sewing project that is portable so I can take it with me to the beach! Felt is often my material of choice for portable projects since it's ideal for hand sewing. It's also great for making durable home items like these cheerful coasters. For this project we used our Spring Felt Bundle because the bright colors reminded us of real citrus fruits.
I love that each coaster is slightly different from the next due to the handsewing. They will add a breezy, summery vibe to any table. This is the kind of project you can do with very little experience since it requires absoultely no special skills or equipment.-- Molly
Materials
- A Spring Felt Bundle
- A Citrus Coaster Template, available for free download here, printed and cut out
- Valdani Embroidery thread to match the colors of the felt bundle. I used colors 18, 10, 0244, 1212, and 45. You could also just use ecru on all of them if you don't mind seeing the stitches.
Cutting
For each coaster cut the felt as instructed on the template. You will have:
- 2 large colored circles for the peel and the backing
- 8 colored segments (4 cut from each segment template)
- 1 ecru circle for the pith
Cut "seeds" out of two or three of the segment pieces by folding the segment piece in half lengthwise and then taking a small snip across the fold to take out a small triangular chunk out of the piece.
Sewing
Place the pith circle in the center of one of the colored circles. Then arrange the segments on top of the pith circle as shown above.
Pin all of these layers together.
Using thread to match the colored felt and a very small running stitch sew on the segment pieces around their edges.
Sew on all of the segments in this manner and press the piece flat.
Pin the other colored circle to the back of the piece.
Hiding the beginning knot in between the front and back colored circles sew the back on with the matching embroidery thread and a small running stitch all the way around the coaster.
Once you've gotten all the way around tie a small knot on the back piece and then pass the needle through the two layers and pull it out in the middle of the back. Snip the thread at the exit point thus hiding it.
Trim edges to make the front look nice and neat.
Repeat all steps to make 2 coasters from each of the colored felt pieces.
June 23, 2011
Reader Comments (66)
Hugs
Paola
Should try making them
Is anyone else having trouble accessing the template, though? This is simple enough that I know I could do without, but now it's just bugging me!
Woolfilz is such a delight, both in color and touch.
Thanks so much,
Kathy
I did not wash the felt beforehand. As you mention, it does change the texture quite a bit. I would spot cleaning theses or treating them with something like Scotch Guard instead of washing them in a machine.
Thank you!- Molly
The template should be working OK- but I've sent you a copy via email in case you're still having problems with it. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks!
Gay
The thread takes a while to come back in stock but you don't have to use the exact colors I did- it's pretty forgiving. If you want to order it now I would use the following colors: 72 for the orange and bright pink coasters , 46 for the light pink, 12 for the yellow , 1262 for the lime. Alternatively you could use color 4, which is an off-white, for everything.
Thank you for the question!- Molly
Cheers,
Allison
www.thecheddarguppies.com
We are currently sold out of the spring bundles but if you'd like to be emailed when they come back in stock please email customerservice@purlsoho.com and let them know.
Thanks so much for your question!
The template seems to be working fine from this end but just in case you're still having trouble we will send you a template via email. Thanks for your comment!- Molly
www.naptimecrafting.blogspot.com
I've just started a blog and these lovely little coasters were my first post! My colours weren't quite as good as yours but I thought you'd like a peek...
http://poppy-fox.blogspot.com/2011/07/citrus-coasters.html
Becca :)
Thanks so much for sharing! We LOVE seeing finished projects!
- Molly
oh, I did change the "seeds" to heart shapes for her and that was all I did differently
http://deezkatz.blogspot.com xx
Thanks for the tutorial.
They can't be laminated but they can be sprayed with a stain resistant, like Scotch Guard.
They can also be hand washed by soaking them in a gentle cleanser and then drying them flat. We carry a great phosphate free cleanser called "Soak" here:
http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/search/?search_keywords=soak#searchResultTop
Thanks for your question!
They are really lovely, i love all things citrus, especially lemons.
You can treat them ahead of time with a stain resistant spray like Scotch Guard or just spot clean them by hand when they get dirty.
Thank you for your question!
Molly
I found your blog, with wild olive's blog. I Just started to sew with felt, that's so funny way!
I tried your citrus!
I wondered what is the right size of the circle?
thanks for your answer!
You can download the pattern for the circle (and all the other pieces) here:
http://purlbee.squarespace.com/storage/citrus_coasters_template.pdf
Thank you for your question!
Molly