Welcome to a rather snowy weekly tutorial. This weeks Countdown to Christmas is the Snowman Coasters!
I thought it would be nice to recap on hand sewing the QAYG 2 1/2" Hexagons, as well as showing you the wonderful faces of the Snowman Coasters.
To start you need the Snowman Coasters pattern and a 2 1/2" QAYG Hexagon template. For wadding I used Thermal wadding, this will protect my table when used as a coaster. The thermal wadding has a shiny side and a fluffy side. For the coasters, use fluffy side up.
Choose your cheeky faced snowman, and draw onto the inner hexagon. Now embroider the face and applique on the nose.
Once you are happy with your snowman's face, use the outer part of your template to position the inner face and wadding into the centre and pin.
Fold each of the edges over twice and pin. I use Magic Pins x 50 – Daisy and Grace to do this as they have a silicone head and can be ironed over. Brilliant.
Once each edge is folded and pinned down, then press with a hot iron.
Now its time to sew. You can of course sew the edges using a machine and a straight line stitch, but for this tutorial I wanted to show you hand stitching.
I will be using a black thread, so that you can see it clearly, but when I make mine for Christmas I will be using a white thread, so that my stitches disappear.
Start by knotting the end of your thread and sew into a corner of your hexagon. This will hide your knot and secure the corner. Now knot your thread through the corner using a loop.
Now your thread is secure, you can begin sewing along each edge. Start your needle along the edge of the binding in the inner hexagon fabric. Then bring your needle back up into the folded edge of the binding. Pull your thread through. Carry this along the edge of the hexagon.
Each time you come to a corner, do a little knot, again this will secure your stitches. Then carry on sewing along the next edge.
At the end of your hexagon, knot the corner and bring the thread up through the binded edge, and cut.
Press your coaster, and enjoy.
I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial, and enjoy making many happy faced snowmen.
Happy stitching,
Steph
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