Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Scented Mug Coaster Tutorial

February was the month of our Coffee cozy swap at JCCF. To go with my coffee cozy, I wanted to make a coaster. I also wanted to make that coaster filled with potpourri. That way every time the recipient (Maryootsy) set her warm mug on the coaster, the scents of the potpourri would fill the air. I promised tutorials.....Here's the first. It's a super easy one!

Scented Mug Coaster

Materials:

Approx. 60 yards of worsted weight yarn
I hook or size to meet gauge
5"x10" piece of tightly woven fabric
sewing thread
4 to 5 oz. of potpourri

Gauge:  14sc=4"/9rows=4" (gauge is not SUPER critical)

Leaving a fairly long tail, Ch 18 (you'll use this tail to sew with at the end).
Row 1: Sc in 2nd chain from hook. 1 sc in each ch to the end of chain. Turn. (17sc).
Row 2: Ch 1. Sc in each sc across.
Repeat row 2 until piece measures twice as long as it is wide-(my piece was 5" wide, so, I needed 10" in length). Set aside.

Now, because the "fabric" of the crocheted coaster wasn't really dense enough to hold in the potpourri......I had to sew a Lining pouch. Even if you're not much of a seamstress, it takes only a few minutes to sew up.
1. Cut fabric the same size as your crocheted piece (mine was 5"x10")


2. Press 1/4 inch to wrong side on each end of lining fabric (5" ends).
3. Fold in half with right sides together (line-up pressed edges) and pin.
3. Stitch from pressed edge to fold line using a 1/4" seam. 
    4. Turn right side out.
    5. Fill halfway with potpourri. Don't be too tempted to fill too full. You want the coaster to sit fairly flat. 
    
    6. Pin pressed edges together and sew shut. I just edge-stitched, since the lining will be covered by the crocheted cover.




7. Place lining packet on wrong side of crochet piece.
8. Using tails of crochet piece, sew around open edges.
9. Anchor well at end of stitching. Weave in ends. I run my needle into the inside of the coaster and then
out again at a different location. Pulling slightly, clip yarn where it exits coaster. That will leave your end in the inside of your coaster.


Finished! Combine with a mug and mug cozy (of course), some coffees or teas (and a yummy sweet treat) for a Quick and fun gift!


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Coffee Cozy Swap

February is Coffee Cozy Swap month at JCCF. I spent the first half of the month crocheting and gathering for my swap partner-Maryootsy. I got it all wrapped up and ready to ship yesterday. Then, after work, I headed to the Post Office to ship that package and a couple of squares for Wendy. When I picked up my own mail......guess what? A package FROM Maryootsy!



Here's what was in my package: a travel mug with the cutest felted coffee cozy with a horse and posies. An adorable donut shaped pincushion. Three YUMMY flavors of coffee. A skein of cotton yarn and a couple of crochet hooks. So, this morning I'm enjoying French Vanilla coffee in my cute coffee cozied mug! Thank you Mary!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Ground Hog's Day

Six more weeks of winter they say......I'm SO ready for spring! I guess I'm going to have to MAKE my own spring. So, TA-DAH! I found this link:Teeny Tiny Flowers. This looks like a fun, stash-busting project. What, you ask, am I going to do with these flowers? Not really sure yet......but, I have a few ideas! I'm off to dig through my stash for yarn!