I usually send my friends little gifts in their Christmas cards and in the past I have sent handmade ornaments. This year I made felted wool coasters. My daughter has gifted me with bags full of wool - some felted, some not and a few weeks ago I started going through the bags to see if I could make use of any of it for gifts for this year. I did a bit of internet research and found a few small projects that would be conducive to the supplies available and the time I had. So with a few pieces of this duplex ivory/tan felted wool I decided to make some coasters. I cut the felted wool into 4" x 4" squares using my rotary cutter, clear ruler and my cutting mat. Makes the job pretty quick.
I used wool fiber from kits which I have purchased here and there when I found them at thrift stores or yard sales. I chose a simple floral design and embroidered it on my coasters. I was careful not to go too deep into the wool so that the threads did not show on the back side. I used the back stitch for the stems and then just running stitch for the branches. The flowers are french knots.
I made five for this time around but have fabric for making more. On the first four in used different greens for the stems and branches and used lavender, blue, pink and red for the flowers. On the last one I used brown for the stem and branches and orange for the flowers. I added decorative machine stitching to the edges though it is not necessary. I used contrasting thread - darker on the front and lighter on the back. I used a three stitch zigzag which worked out really well. I was careful to line up the stitching when I connected back to where I started. I tied off the ends and used a needle to hide them into the felted wool of the coaster. I am super happy with how they turned out!!!! Looking forward to inventing a few more flower patterns to go on the next batch. Therese
