Coasters

So my (male) cousin is getting married this summer, and there's a shower this weekend. I can't make the trek up to Oklahoma, so I decided to just send my gift with my mom who is going.

I'm obviously on a sewing kick, and I love to make things for people. I'm trying to find a balance though because 1) I don't want to be too lame and be that person who everyone dreads getting gifts from, and 2) not everybody really likes homemade/sewn gifts. (Whereas I love when someone's put the thought and effort into making something they think I'll appreciate.)

Anyway, hand-sewn baby gifts are easier to think of than wedding gifts, so it took awhile for me to decide on coasters, but I was planning on buying their drinkware, so cute coasters seemed like a natural fit. But then stupid Bed, Bath, and Beyond didn't actually carry the ones they were registered for, and the only set they had at the store was a broken return. Since I had already planned on the coasters, I went with a coordinating gift Plan B: Keurig K-Cups. Coffee needs coasters, right?

Okay, so now that you know way more of the back story than you ever wanted to, here is the final product:

I found the tutorial here (thanks to my sister's recommendation to obsess over Craftgawker), and it was super easy to follow since it was written for beginners. My mom and Darla (practically my second mom) even enlightened me to the easier way to make these in bulk (sewing one long strip and cutting to size). Granted they told me after I had already made two sets, but it's helpful nonetheless. (I made two sets because I bought WAY too much fabric and a friend from church hinted that they would match her living room decor. Plus, they really only take about an hour to put together.)

The hardest part (as always with gifts) was picking out fabric for someone else's taste (especially someone I don't know!). I just went by the dishes she registered for and chose a coordinating color scheme.

I have realized that I need to start buying a variety of thread colors. I only have brown, black, and white, so my options are super limited! I mean, one of those will work with any fabric I use, but sometimes you don't want such a contrast (especially when sewing straight lines is not your forte, ahem).

This is a great project for your fabric scraps. It really was easy (and would've been inexpensive had I not gone overboard with my fabric purchase, oops), so I definitely recommend giving these a try.