I saw a rug that was made with felt scraps, and I couldn’t quite believe that it would be strong enough to step on, so I decided to try some felt crafts to see how it would work.
I made this felt scrap coaster using some random pieces that I found in my fabric scrap bag, and it wasn’t that hard to do. Plus, there are a few ways that I can think of to do it, so you can kind of wing it if you don’t have the specific supplies I used.
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Why it works.
Like I said, I didn’t think that a felt rug would actually work as a useful thing, because I couldn’t imagine that the felt strips would hold up with people walking on them.
I still doubt that a felt rug would be able to take a lot of foot traffic, but if you used it as a mat to put shoes on when you come in from outside, it would probably hold those pretty easily.
The way that the strips fit together makes them support each other, so for lightweight things it works fine.
I would say that you shouldn’t use super-light, cheap felt, it should be a little more substantial weight to begin with if you’re looking for a really sturdy result.
The rug that I saw was probably made using really heavyweight felt, it would be more sturdy.
I used regular felt that was a decent weight, it wasn’t super heavy but it also wasn’t that flimsy version that you get really cheap in the kids’ crafts section of the craft store.
On Amazon they have different thicknesses of felt, and I think the 1.6mm thickness is going to be the best choice for this. See that here on Amazon (#ad)
Supplies for the felt coasters.
To make these coasters, you’ll need (See prices on all linked items on Amazon #ad):
- Pieces of felt (medium weight 1.6mm thick or more is best)
- Glue (See prices on all linked items on Amazon #ad)
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Backing for the finished coaster
I used regular Elmer’s white glue for this, but I’ve seen people do it with hot glue.
I think the white glue is better because it will give you some time to put the glue on and position the felt strips. Hot glue will cool off pretty quickly, so it doesn’t give you the luxury of time to position things the right way.
I used a piece of thin cork that I had lying around for the backing, but you can use a piece of upholstery fabric, non-skid rubber backing, or any other material that makes sense to you.
You could also paint the back of the coaster with polyurethane if you wanted to make it really stiff. It would probably sink into the felt and firm it up, too.
I like the cork backing that I used because it’s water resistant, and it also keeps the coaster from sliding around a little.
Cut the felt strips.
To get started, use a ruler to decide how thick you want the finished coaster to be. I made mine about 1/2″ wide, because I figured that was thick enough to be sturdy, but not too thick.
Remember that the thinner the strips, the more difficult it will be to put the glue on them! 1/2″ was a good size but you could go a little thinner.
You can either cut the strips by eye if you’re good at cutting things straight, or use a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler to cut them exactly even.
I did it by eye because I knew I could trim the finished coaster later, and I’m pretty good at cutting things evenly.
If you have trouble doing that, use a ruler and a rotary cutter!
I cut strips until I thought it was enough. You can always cut more if you need them.
How many you’ll need will depend on how big you want the final coaster to be, so there’s no rule about how many to cut.
For another tutorial on making fabric scrap coasters, click here.
And for machine embroidered coasters, click here.
Start coiling the strips.
Put some glue on the strip that you want in the center of the coaster and coil it up into a roll. This is the hardest part, so try to get it as round as you can even if it’s wiggly.
Roll it up until you get to the end of the strip. Leave about an inch of felt unglued at the end.
Add more glue at the end of each strip to make sure that the ends will be attached well. Press the strip onto the coil and get the next strip ready.
Keep forming the roll.
Add another strip to the roll, starting where the first one left off. Don’t overlap the strips as you roll them because that will make the coil bumpy.
Try to keep the felt strips level on one side so that the coil is pretty flat.
I tried a few different methods for adding the strips as the coil got larger. When it’s small, the easiest way to do it is to put the glue on the strip, then roll the coil over it.
That way you don’t have to try to pick the strip up, which can get messy.
As it gets a little bigger, you can also put the glue on the coil itself, then add the strips directly to it.
I thought this wasn’t quite as easy as just rolling it, but it’s an option.
Also, if you wait too long, the glue will absorb into the felt, so work pretty quickly.
Flatten the coil to keep it even.
You’ll want to keep the coil flat on one side, which will be the top, as you roll it larger.
To do that, try to keep it pretty even on one side as you roll it, but you should also press it against the counter every now and then to make sure that there’s one side that’s pretty flat.
Since I cut the strips by eye, the back was pretty uneven and some strips were sticking up. I had plans to fix that later.
Start rolling on the counter.
When the coil is a couple of inches wide and you have one side that’s flat, you can start adding the strips to the coil while it’s sitting on the counter.
(You could do it this way before this point, but it’s easier when there’s some bulk to it.)
Put the glue on a strip, and press it onto the roll while the flat side of the coil is against the counter.
That lets you keep the bottom even, since you can use the flat counter as a guide to make sure that the edge of the strip is even all the way around.
Attach the strip around the coil and keep adding more on until it’s as big as you want.
The one that I made is about 5″ across, which is big enough for a large mug.
If you want to make a larger one, or a trivet instead of a coaster, just keep adding strips.
Finish the edge.
When you get to the width that you want it to be, cut one long strip that will go all the way around the coaster.
If you don’t have a piece of felt that’s long enough, you can use a ribbon or a fabric strip.
You can also use smaller pieces, but using one long piece will cover up any seams that could come loose, so it’s best to do one solid strip if you can.
When you get to the end, overlap the edges about an inch and glue them securely in place.
Leave the coaster to dry completely, probably for at least a few hours, but overnight is good!
If you cut the strips by eye you’ll probably have one side that’s rough-looking. That’s fine, you’ll be trimming it level next.
Trim the tall edges.
When the coaster is totally dry, use a sharp pair of scissors and trim the tall edges of felt on the back side of the coaster if you need to level them off.
If you did a really good job of cutting the strips in the first place you might not need to do this!
The coaster will be glued together but still soft, so handle it carefully.
Keep trimming until the back is fairly even. You’ll be gluing the backing onto this side, so get it as flat as you can.
Glue the backing on.
To put the backing on the coaster, trace around it onto the material you’ll be adding so that you can cut it to the right size.
I used a piece of cork that I had hanging around, but like I said above, you can use any material that makes sense to you.
Cut the backing out and put glue all over it. You’ll need to use something that works on both the felt and the backing that you’ve chosen.
I was going to use my E6000 glue (#ad), which is strong and grabs onto everything, but my husband apparently used it all on something.
So I went with wood glue, since cork is basically tree bark, and I figured that felt would stick to it also.
Put the glue on the backing, then press it onto the back side of the coaster (the one that you trimmed.)
Press it down flat, then flip it over.
Press the coaster down onto the backing, and then put something flat and heavy onto it to keep it secured while it dries.
I used a heavy notebook, put it on the coaster, and left it to dry.
The weight of the notebook held the felt against the backing while it set up, and made the bond work well.
The finished coaster.
When it dries, the backing will be firmly attached to the felt coaster, and you’re done!
The finished coaster that I made is pretty firm, and it holds the weight of my mug perfectly well.
I tried a cooking pot on it, and it would definitely work as a trivet, too. I would make it bigger if I was making trivets, but it would work for sure.
The good thing about these is that they will absorb moisture if there are drips, and it also uses up your extra felt pieces that you have lying around in your fabric stash.
One tip is that if you want it to look like these are intentional and not just a “use up my scraps” kind of project, you should make a set of them.
As soon as you have a set of something people think that you bought them, not made them. Individually-colored ones are fine, but if you have enough scraps to make a few, mix them up so that the colors are scattered throughout all of them.
It looks more cohesive than having individual ones in different colors, unless that’s the specific look that you want!