Today I’d like to share a quick and easy tutorial for making felt and fabric drink coasters. A set of these would make a fabulous hostess gift during the holidays. Not everyone wants a fruitcake, you know. 🙂

For my coasters I’m using the motifs from my Holiday Tea Towel. Each tea towel has 2 each of 4 different elements and are ready to be cut out and stitched. Of course you can use any other fabric you’d like for the coasters instead.

What You’ll Need (makes 8 coasters) My Holiday Tea Towel -or- fabric scraps from your stash Double sided fusible webbing, such as Steam a Seam Lite Several colors of wool blend felt, about 1/4 yard total for 8 coasters Embroidery floss Decorative shears, such as scalloped or pinking

1) Following the manufacturer’s instructions, fuse a piece of webbing to the wrong side of each motif. Cut out the each of the fused circles on the dotted line. (circles are about 3 1/4″ in diameter)

2) Peel the paper backing off of the fabric circles. Center each circle, webbing side down, onto a piece of felt at least 1” bigger in diameter than the circle. Cover with a press cloth and fuse together with a warm iron. Using embroidery floss, blanket stitch around the edge of the fabric ornament circle.

3) Next, fuse a second piece of webbing to the back of the stitched felt. Peel the paper backing off and place the work webbing side down, onto a second piece of felt in a contrast color. Cover with a press cloth and fuse together with a warm iron. Trim the felt layers around the circle with decorative shears, leaving an even border of felt.

Using two layers of felt not only covers the back of your blanket stitching, but it gives each coaster a nice cushion-y heft. And what’s not to like about that extra pop color. Love!

One of my favorite things about these coasters is that they look like PA Dutch folk art “hex signs“, a common sight on Pennsylvania Dutch barns in central and eastern Pennsylvania. A little folksy, a little modern and just plain pretty.

You’ll find my Holiday Tea Towels in my etsy shop both as a single listing and as a special discounted double listing until Thanksgiving. Many thanks to those of you who have already ordered yours! I’m happy to hear that so many of you plan to craft your towel into the holiday pillow and ornaments. And now you have a 3rd crafting option to try! P. S. You can refer to my Felt Lore post about cutting tools to read my thoughts about decorative shears. If you don’t have any, you may opt to cut your coasters’ felt borders with straight shears and add another row of blanket stitching around the outside edge. Just as pretty! P. S. Again: check out this Crafty Christmas Link-up from Bugs and Fishes! Thanks, Laura, for including mine!