It's here! The "Simple Mug Rug" tutorial ... I call it simple, because to me it has a simple sort of look to it ... in a good way. :) I won't bore you with anymore blathering on and on about it .... Let's get started!
* 2 strips of medium weight linen each measuring 2.5" x 11.5"
* 5 different quilting weight cotton print strips each measuring 2.5" x 18"
* 1 piece of backing fabric measuring 11.5" x 6.5"
* 1 piece of cotton batting measuring 11.5" x 6.5"
* hand sewing needle and thread
* Basic Sewing Supplies: sewing machine, needles, thread, scissors, iron, and pins.
* Very helpful (but not absolutely necessary) supplies: rotary cutter/mat, basting pins, binding clips, and a walking foot.
*Optional: hand embroidery needle, 1 skein of a matching or contrasting color of embroidery floss, and a pencil.
* A note to my international friends: 1" = 2.54 cm
* Abbreviation Key: WS = wrong sides, RS = right sides, WST= wrong sides together, RST= right sides together
1. Gather all of your supplies listed above, and cut your fabric to the measurements listed above. Notice how all of the pieces of fabric (except the backing) are 2.5" wide? Feel free to substitute jelly roll strips! In lieu of cutting a solid backing piece, you can also sew together 3 jelly roll strips and cut down to the size indicated above.
2. Take 2 of your cotton print pieces and align them RST, and sew together along the long edge using a 1/4" seam.
3. Continue sewing all of the cotton print strips together until you have one panel that looks like this:
4. Press the seams open on the back, and then press the panel from the front.
5. Trim the edges if necessary to straighten out.
6. Cut a strip of fabric that is 2.5" wide -- this will be your patchwork insert.
Set aside for now.
7. Cut 4 more strips of patchwork each measuring 2.5" wide for the binding.
8. With RST, sew the 4 patchwork strips together end to end using 1/4" seams to create one long binding piece.
9. Press open seams on the back of the binding , and press the front of the binding as well.
10. Fold binding in half lengthwise, WST, and press. Set aside.
11. Get your patchwork insert piece from step# 6, and your linen strips. With RST, align the longer, raw edge of the patchwork insert with one linen strip. Sew together using a 1/4 seam. Repeat for remaining linen strip.
12. Trim off the excess linen from the sides.
13. Lay the backing piece with the WS facing up on a flat surface, followed by the batting, and the completed front piece with the RS facing up. Pin Layers together. You now have an itty bitty quilt sandwich.
14. Bring your quilt sandwich over to your sewing machine. Switch to a walking foot if you have one. Quilt your mug rug as desired. The sample was stitched with parallel lines, using the edge of the walking foot as a guide.
15. Press the entire piece, and trim the sides so that they are nice and straight. Trim the linen so that it is 2" in width past the patchwork insert. (See the photos below for more clarity)
16. Optional: Add a running stitch to the patchwork insert. The sample was embroidered using the full strand of embroidery floss (all 6 ply).
16. Bring your quilt sandwich back to your sewing machine, and baste around all 4 sides using a 1/8" seam. This will make attaching the binding easier. If you know how to attach binding, go ahead and do that now, and you are done! Otherwise if you need instruction on how to attach binding, continue on to the next step.
17. Take your binding piece from step# 10, and leaving a 2-3" tail, begin pinning the binding to the quilt sandwich (do not start at a corner). You will align the raw edges of the binding with the raw edges of the quilt sandwich.
18. Once you reach the corner, fold the binding towards the opposite direction of the next side that you will be attaching to.
19. Now fold the binding back onto itself towards the direction you want to go.
20. See how you have formed a triangular shaped fold at the corner? Flip the corner fold over and pin in place.
21. Repeat the above steps for every corner that you come to, while continuing to pin the binding around the entire piece.
22. Once you have pinned around the entire piece, and reached the beginning again, pinch where the 2 ends meet.
23. Sew the 2 ends together (where you are pinching). You may have to remove some pins to do this. Trim the fabric to 1/4" beyond where you have just sewn. Trim the ends to an angle so they do not poke out when you are hand sewing the binding to the back. (See the photo below for more explanation).
24. This step is optional, but helpful --- look at your corners. See how you can see a diagonal line across the corner created by the fold? Trace that with a pencil. Repeat at all 4 corners.
25. Take your quilt sandwich to your sewing machine, and using a 1/4" seam, begin sewing the binding on (do not start at a corner). Stitch along one side until you reach your drawn line. Stitch up to, but not past your drawn line. Be sure to back stitch to secure your stitching. Remove your quilt sandwich from the sewing machine.
26. Flip the fold at the corner over.
27. Begin stitching again right at the edge of the corner. Be sure to back stitch to secure. Continue attaching the binding using a 1/4" seam in the same manner as outlined above: stitch until you reach your line at the corner, stop, remove quilt sandwich from machine, flip fold over, start stitching again right at the edge.
28. Once all of the binding is attached, press the seam to set the stitches.
29. Fold the binding over to the back and secure with clips or pins.
30. Using a hand sewing needle and thread, begin securing the binding to the back of the quilt sandwich using a slip stitch. Stitch right up to the corner. Flip the corner down and secure in place to create a mitered look. See the pictures below for clarity.
31. Once you have attached the binding, press your entire piece ... you now have a cute mug rug, enjoy!
I have made every effort to explain the steps as clearly as possiblel, and provide numerous photos. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!
Terms of Use: Please remember that free tutorials are for personal use only, if you wish to sell items made from this tutorial, please purchase a .pdf copy with revised terms of use. A .pdf version of this tutorial will be posted under the "Instand Downloads Shop Page" within the next week. Thanks for your understanding.
Enjoy!
x-x-x Simple Mug Rug Tutorial x-x-x
Finished Size: 10.5" x 6"
Gather Your Supplies:
* 2 strips of medium weight linen each measuring 2.5" x 11.5"
* 5 different quilting weight cotton print strips each measuring 2.5" x 18"
* 1 piece of backing fabric measuring 11.5" x 6.5"
* 1 piece of cotton batting measuring 11.5" x 6.5"
* hand sewing needle and thread
* Basic Sewing Supplies: sewing machine, needles, thread, scissors, iron, and pins.
* Very helpful (but not absolutely necessary) supplies: rotary cutter/mat, basting pins, binding clips, and a walking foot.
*Optional: hand embroidery needle, 1 skein of a matching or contrasting color of embroidery floss, and a pencil.
* A note to my international friends: 1" = 2.54 cm
* Abbreviation Key: WS = wrong sides, RS = right sides, WST= wrong sides together, RST= right sides together
Mug Rug Instructions:
1. Gather all of your supplies listed above, and cut your fabric to the measurements listed above. Notice how all of the pieces of fabric (except the backing) are 2.5" wide? Feel free to substitute jelly roll strips! In lieu of cutting a solid backing piece, you can also sew together 3 jelly roll strips and cut down to the size indicated above.
 |
| All fabrics, except the linen, are by Amy Butler. All prints are from the Soul Blossoms collection, except the 2nd fabric from the right in the top row -- this is from the Love collection. |
2. Take 2 of your cotton print pieces and align them RST, and sew together along the long edge using a 1/4" seam.
3. Continue sewing all of the cotton print strips together until you have one panel that looks like this:
4. Press the seams open on the back, and then press the panel from the front.
5. Trim the edges if necessary to straighten out.
6. Cut a strip of fabric that is 2.5" wide -- this will be your patchwork insert.
Set aside for now.
7. Cut 4 more strips of patchwork each measuring 2.5" wide for the binding.
8. With RST, sew the 4 patchwork strips together end to end using 1/4" seams to create one long binding piece.
9. Press open seams on the back of the binding , and press the front of the binding as well.
10. Fold binding in half lengthwise, WST, and press. Set aside.
11. Get your patchwork insert piece from step# 6, and your linen strips. With RST, align the longer, raw edge of the patchwork insert with one linen strip. Sew together using a 1/4 seam. Repeat for remaining linen strip.
12. Trim off the excess linen from the sides.
13. Lay the backing piece with the WS facing up on a flat surface, followed by the batting, and the completed front piece with the RS facing up. Pin Layers together. You now have an itty bitty quilt sandwich.
14. Bring your quilt sandwich over to your sewing machine. Switch to a walking foot if you have one. Quilt your mug rug as desired. The sample was stitched with parallel lines, using the edge of the walking foot as a guide.
15. Press the entire piece, and trim the sides so that they are nice and straight. Trim the linen so that it is 2" in width past the patchwork insert. (See the photos below for more clarity)
16. Optional: Add a running stitch to the patchwork insert. The sample was embroidered using the full strand of embroidery floss (all 6 ply).
16. Bring your quilt sandwich back to your sewing machine, and baste around all 4 sides using a 1/8" seam. This will make attaching the binding easier. If you know how to attach binding, go ahead and do that now, and you are done! Otherwise if you need instruction on how to attach binding, continue on to the next step.
How-To Attach Straight Grain Binding With Mitered Corners:
17. Take your binding piece from step# 10, and leaving a 2-3" tail, begin pinning the binding to the quilt sandwich (do not start at a corner). You will align the raw edges of the binding with the raw edges of the quilt sandwich.
18. Once you reach the corner, fold the binding towards the opposite direction of the next side that you will be attaching to.
19. Now fold the binding back onto itself towards the direction you want to go.
20. See how you have formed a triangular shaped fold at the corner? Flip the corner fold over and pin in place.
21. Repeat the above steps for every corner that you come to, while continuing to pin the binding around the entire piece.
22. Once you have pinned around the entire piece, and reached the beginning again, pinch where the 2 ends meet.
23. Sew the 2 ends together (where you are pinching). You may have to remove some pins to do this. Trim the fabric to 1/4" beyond where you have just sewn. Trim the ends to an angle so they do not poke out when you are hand sewing the binding to the back. (See the photo below for more explanation).
24. This step is optional, but helpful --- look at your corners. See how you can see a diagonal line across the corner created by the fold? Trace that with a pencil. Repeat at all 4 corners.
25. Take your quilt sandwich to your sewing machine, and using a 1/4" seam, begin sewing the binding on (do not start at a corner). Stitch along one side until you reach your drawn line. Stitch up to, but not past your drawn line. Be sure to back stitch to secure your stitching. Remove your quilt sandwich from the sewing machine.
26. Flip the fold at the corner over.
27. Begin stitching again right at the edge of the corner. Be sure to back stitch to secure. Continue attaching the binding using a 1/4" seam in the same manner as outlined above: stitch until you reach your line at the corner, stop, remove quilt sandwich from machine, flip fold over, start stitching again right at the edge.
 |
| Start your sewing right at the edge of the corner. |
28. Once all of the binding is attached, press the seam to set the stitches.
29. Fold the binding over to the back and secure with clips or pins.
30. Using a hand sewing needle and thread, begin securing the binding to the back of the quilt sandwich using a slip stitch. Stitch right up to the corner. Flip the corner down and secure in place to create a mitered look. See the pictures below for clarity.
31. Once you have attached the binding, press your entire piece ... you now have a cute mug rug, enjoy!
I would love to see you version, please share a picture in the split stitch flickr pool! :)
I have made every effort to explain the steps as clearly as possiblel, and provide numerous photos. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!
Terms of Use: Please remember that free tutorials are for personal use only, if you wish to sell items made from this tutorial, please purchase a .pdf copy with revised terms of use. A .pdf version of this tutorial will be posted under the "Instand Downloads Shop Page" within the next week. Thanks for your understanding.
Enjoy!
Hugs, Sara :)
awesome awesome awesome...these are absolutely wonderful! thank you much for the step by step tutorial instead of video...sometimes the videos are difficult to understand and some computers have difficulty running those videos. step by step is so much better to learn from... :)
ReplyDelete@ donna!ee, thanks so much ... if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know :)
ReplyDeleteWell, huh. I haven't seen mitered corners done that way- where you flip the corner over then continue to sew, but it makes perfect sense! I am getting ready to quilt and bind a quilt next week, so I will definitely try that. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic - thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial.
ReplyDeleteI love mug rugs SO MUCH! Sitting down to practice my machine quilting is so much more fun now that I have these little projects to practice on. Thanks so much, I'll be linking.
ReplyDelete@ Rachel -- thanks so much! I too just cannot get enough of these mug rugs, they are addicting to make I tell you ... ADDICTING! :) Hugs, Sara
ReplyDelete@ Peggy .... you will have to let me know how your quilt binding goes! I wish I could take credit for that tip, but I saw it somewhere out there in blogland ... maybe on Elizabeth Hartman's blog? I am definitely not an expert, but that method works for me :) Let me know how it goes!!! :)
ReplyDelete@ annemarie -- you are so welcome, I can't wait to see what you come up with!! :)
ReplyDeleteDone! My first mug rug! AND my first quilting attempt! Thank you so much for the tutorial! I'll be posting about the project soon, I'll definitely let you know when I do! Thanks again!!!!
ReplyDelete~Kristi
@ Kristi --- Thank-you so much for letting me know! It really makes me so happy to see someone using and enjoying one of my tutorials ... motivates me to keep them coming. I would absolutely love to see your mug rug!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think these are adorable and would love to make one. Is there a reason to use the linen or can you use another fabric? They are so cute! Thank You karla
ReplyDelete@ Karla -- I just chose linen because I liked the way it looked ... any fabric that is similar to a medium weight linen or a quilting weight cotton would be just fine .. I hope you enjoy stitching one up!
ReplyDeleteWhere did you use the 5-18" strips that you sewed together? I love the Mug Rugs but cannot see where those strips are? Thanks!
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous --- Hi there! The 18" strips are in every picture -- they are used for the front patchwork insert and the patchwork binding. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun project Sara. A wonderful way to get some scraps burned! I've featured this post on Craft Gossip here:
ReplyDeletehttp://quilting.craftgossip.com/?p=10606
If you would like a "featured by" button, you can grab one here:
http://craftgossip.com/link-to-us/
Warmly,
Scarlett Burroughs
Quilting Editor, Craft Gossip
Thank you so much!
DeleteIf I were rich I'd send you $$$$. I have never seen such a clear and fairly simple and very well photographed, tut on binding and corners. Your technique has eliminated a few grey hairs for this old dog that just learned a new trick!!! Much success is wished to you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It looks really nice, to be honest!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for posting this tutorial!!! The directions were PERFECT and so easy to follow! I just finished my first mug rug and can't wait to start the next one. Absolute best directions I found online!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteLove this, thank you! I was looking for the pdf but couldn't find, is it somewhere else? thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! I had a PDF version in my SHOP for a very small amount of time, but decided to take it out because I wanted to include not only this version but a couple of other versions ... this summer for sure though! :)
DeleteThat has to be the best worded tutorial I've read.. and I've read a lot! Looks like Mum will have one of these added to her Chrissy present!!
ReplyDeletethank you I can understand your tutorial and photos are great i want to make a set for a quilting party to put their coffee and cookies on, no more spills to get to the quilts at my party.
ReplyDelete