October 10th, 2014

How To: Braided Rag Rug Coaster

by Julie Hirt

 

ragrugtutorial

 

I’ve been wanting to make these for a while so I thought I’d put together a little tutorial.  It’s Jelly Roll friendly if you have any leftover strips lying around.   The final result is a 5″ wide, thick, absorbent coaster.

Fabric Options – 4 Coaster Set

  • 1 yard of fabric (cut into [12] 2.5″ strips)
  • or  1/3 yard each of 3 different fabrics (cut each into [4] 2.5″ strips)
  • or  12 Jelly Roll Strips

 

VIDEO BELOW!

Grab 3 Strips

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Start braiding with medium pressure, you don’t want it too tight or too loose.  To hold mine in place I pinned one end to the design wall.

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Take one end and push the end pieces up against the sides to start your coil.

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Set your machine to a wide zig zag stitch and tack a few stitches to start.

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Keep stitching around and keep your braid laid flat.  Try to have the coil on the left and the braid on the right meet in the middle. This way the zig zag stitch will catch both sides.

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When you near the end, trim two of your pieces so they are a little shorter than the 3rd.

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Wrap the longer piece around the other two.

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Fold the fabric end up and push it between the coil and remaining braid.

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No raw edges on the end.

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Here’s a quick little video:

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

 

Here are a few examples of other fabric choices:

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The plaid shirting is the same on both sides, so I didn’t have to worry about too much ‘wrong side’ showing on the braids.

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I really like these because they are thick, super absorbent, and fast to make.

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I have a few sets available for sale in my Etsy shop here, here and here!

 

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29 Responses to “How To: Braided Rag Rug Coaster”

  1. These are too cute, Julie!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

  2. Thanks for a great tutorial. You have given me an idea for making some gifts.

  3. Beautiful!

  4. That’s really awesome. I’m not positive I would have put that much fabric under the foot. It’s nice to know it works!

  5. Thanks! These cute, useful coasters inspire me to get started on Christmas gifts.

  6. These are wonderful, and your video is very informative. This is perfect for those random leftover jelly roll strips. Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial; much appreciated!

  7. I have made rugs for years like this… I use left over pieces of binding from quilts. If any one need some I have bags for sale at a really cheap price . Please get a hold of me at Marylyn0090@gmail.com Happy rug making.

  8. Thank you!
    Last night was discussing getting new coasters with my DBF. Our ceramic ones have hit the tile floor one too many times.
    Lo and behold I find you coaster tutorial this morning. And I wasn’t even looking for a coaster pattern. :-)

  9. Love this idea but was wondering how many strips are used for each coil and are they stitched together to a certain length before beginning? Did I miss this in the instructions?

  10. nice ideas, I am a quilter and I have a lot reminds from fabric. Sorry, me English is not good!

  11. Thank you for the great tutorial – I am going to try and make them for by sewing friends!

  12. Just to say thank-you Julie for such a useful item. I always make mum (93 yrs) something special for Xmas and these certainly will be appreciated by her. I am now 70 been sewing since I was 7 and still enjoy the discovery of the unexpected. Once again many thanks for sharing, regards Lyn (grandmum@dodo.com.au)

  13. Thanks so much for tutorial!!

  14. Wonderful use of fabric, thank for sharing!

  15. What size needle do you use?

  16. oooh pretty!!! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow that features your rag rug coaster tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=86395 –Anne

  17. two cool. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen coasters – crafty gemini had a tutorial on making jelly rolls into fabric bowls. but braiding never even entered my mind – for the bottoms or just stand alone – like you have done. thanks for another great one.

  18. Very cute!!

  19. Especially cute with Christmas fabric!

  20. Do you keep the presser foot up for stitching?? I just tried it and well…that doesnt work and my braid is too thick for keeping the foot down….help!

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