I’ll admit it: I’m one of those people who slips coasters under people’s drinks when they set them down at my house. I’ve been known to do it at other people’s homes, too. Given my affinity for protecting wood surfaces, it was not hard to come up with a coaster pattern that used items from my fabric stash. This project is extremely easy and quick. It would make a great housewarming or hostess gift.

I used jersey, which won’t fray, so the edges don’t need to be finished. I used a scrap of patterned fabric and an old T-shirt. Felted wool would also work well and would need fewer layers.

Supplies:

• Jersey scraps

• Compass or something circular

• Marking tool

• Scissors

• Sewing machine

• Thread

• Darning plate (optional)

Homemade coasters make great housewarming gifts.

Instructions:

1. Using a compass or something circular, trace out circles of about 4 inches in diameter on jersey. I used five circles per coaster, with a patterned piece on top and plain pieces as the other layers. Cut out as many circles as you’ll need.

2. Stack the circles five layers high. Take each one to the sewing machine and stitch it together. You can stitch around the edge, in a spiral, straight lines across — whatever will keep the layers together. It may help at this point to drop the feed dogs or use a darning plate, if you have either of those options. The feed dogs keep fabric going through the machine in a straight line; if you want to go in a circle, you’ll need to go slowly or override them. Overriding the feed dogs by dropping them or using the darning plate allows you to more easily control the direction of the fabric. I didn’t have either option, so it was hard to do a spiral, but there are plenty of other designs I can do. If your machine has fancy stitches, this would be a good project to showcase them.

Once you’ve finished your coasters, why not pour yourself a drink? You have something to set it on.