Snowflake Mug Rug

“I love the winter holidays. It is true that the weather is a bit gray and gloomy and the sun rises later and sets early, but it is the perfect time to dream and sew. Some of my favorite projects are created from thrown-away wool sweaters. To prepare for craft projects, I stash the wool sweater into the hottest water my washing machine can produce and then toss it at the highest heat into my dryer. To get the feel of wool felt, I do it all over again.

Sewing mug rugs are one of my favorite projects. I find myself searching for one every morning as I drink my tea and read my morning news. It protects my desk and just looks warm and cozy.

I like the look of red and white Swedish embroidery and while I don’t have a loom, I thought I would try for a similar look on the Janome Horizon Memory Craft 15000. I digitized the design using Digitizer and then embroidered it on the machine. It’s perfect for a cold winter’s day!” – Janome Maker Milinda Stephenson 

Janome Supplies Required

Click here to download the .JEF embroidery design. 

  • Sweater sleeve from old wool sweater
  • White embroidery thread
  • Tear-away stabilizer
  • Wash-away stabilizer
  • Janome embroidery machine with at least a 5″ x 7″ hoop
  • Two 14″ x 18″ rectangles of backing fabric

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare for Embroidery

  • Hoop the tear-away stabilizer.
  • Cut a piece of wool 10″ x 8″.
  • Using a spray adhesive designed for machine embroidery, adhere the 10″ x 8″ wool to the center of the hoop on top of the tear-away stabilizer.
  • Load the file.
  • Load the hoop into the machine.
  • Using the basting function on your embroidery machine, baste the wool to the tear-away stabilizer.

Step 2: Embroider the Design

  • Choose color 1 (the outline). This will embroider the outline for your mug rug.
  • Choose color 2 (the snowflakes). Be patient with this embroidery. I digitized it so that it looks like it was hand sewn. It will take a while to embroider. Be certain to clip threads as necessary.

Step 3: Prepare Backing

  • Fold your backing pieces in half so that your 14″ x 18″ pieces of fabric turn into 7″ x 9″ pieces.
  • Place so that the raw edges are on the outside of the mug rug outline and the folded edges are on the inside of the mug rug outline. This will form an envelope backing for your mug rug.

Step 4: Sew Envelope Backing

  • Sew color 3 (the sew down line for the envelope backing).
  • After sewing, remove from the machine, trim the edges, was away your wash-away stabilizer and turn. Voila!

 

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