I’m taking part in the annual swap organized by Craft Social. Craft Social is a monthly Twitter chat in which we share crafting projects, ideas, and network with others who share our creative pursuits. Each year they also host a craft swap and this year it’s for a mug rug. Mug rugs seem to be all the rage right now and there are so many different kinds – I can’t wait to see what I receive from my partner!
For my partner, I made both a mug rug and a coordinating coffee cup wrap. The coffee cup wrap is made of fabric and was machine sewn. It has a button and elastic loop closure which allows some flexibility for various sized coffee cups. The mug rug is all hand sewn. I picked some of the lines that are part of the fabric design and hand quilted along those lines. For an additional detail, I added a little heart button in each of the corners.
Both the mug rug and the coffee cup wrap contain a layer of Insul-Bright Needle Punched Insulated Lining (from the Warm Company). This was the first time I had used this product – previously I had simply used a very thin layer of quilt batting but when I saw this in my local Michael’s store, I decided to give it a try. Some advantages of this product: 1) it reflects hot or cold back to its source, 2) it’s machine washable and dryable and there’s no need for prewashing, 3) it’s easy to sew through it, even when hand sewing 4) it doesn’t add a lot of bulk to your project as it’s about the thickness of a piece of felt. There are many applications for this product besides mug rugs and coffee cup wraps as well. It can be used for pot holders/oven mitts, lunch bags, ironing board covers, casserole covers, tea cosies, “sit upons” or stadium cushions, and more. The package I bought contained a piece that was 45 inches wide by 1 yard and it was $21.99 (Michaels, Canada). At first, I thought this seemed a bit steep, but really, it goes very far and I’ll be able to get a lot of use out of it.
I’ll be sure to write another blog post to show you what I receive from my partner in this swap!
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