Autumn Equinox Mug Rug Swap

[Cheesecake]

Got mine finished last night and plan to post on Tuesday as less hectic day of the week.

Bit nervous after seeing the lovely creations people have already received, not my neatest sewing.

[fajita]

@Iminei  I thought we were saving pics for the Equinox.

[Iminei]

I know ... its all gone a bit t**ts up ... I'm afraid!!!

[Efemera]

Doesn’t say anything about not posting pictures in the instructions.

[Iminei]

true!

[Sewingsue]

I know ... its all gone a bit t**ts up ... I'm afraid!!!

Herding cats? 

[Lilian]

I have purposely not posted mine yet but will post in time to be opened just before the equinox!  If I receive mine early I will not open until 22nd or 23rd. 

I am so happy to be making one for somebody else I still forget that I will receive one!   

[Lisalou1965]

I have purposely not posted mine yet but will post in time to be opened just before the equinox!  If I receive mine early I will not open until 22nd or 23rd. 

I am so happy to be making one for somebody else I still forget that I will receive one!   

I am the same! I love the idea of making something for someone else on the forum and maybe getting to know people a bit better as a result that I forget that I will get one too!

[Celia]

I am very nervous of making one for someone else I cannot tell you how stressed I have been over it. If I tell you I used to make made to measure knitwear for other people, that was sold at very high prices I cannot understand why I am so uptight.

Hoping to make it today, this is the second try, The first looked fine until I tried to bind it and then nothing looked right, it slowly got smaller and smaller as I tried a couple of different things, in the end I think it will be the size of a glass mat if I am lucky.

[Iminei]

As I said before ... binding small projects is a sure path to madness!

Face it or turn it out and topstitch!

[Celia]

Funny @Iminei that was my first try to bag out, my problem was the batting I used was quite thick and I managed not to catch on one the edges of the fabric properly, then tried again and it got smaller and then did not look straight so then it got smaller again, when I have more time I will post a photo but today I am going to start afresh.

[Iminei]

@Celia  ...

Cut the wadding 1/4 smaller than the top and bottom before you stitch ... You can dab a dob of glue to keep it in place (or maybe you have already stitched a design on the top piece and wadding before assembling the piece)
Then, when you stitch 1/4"  from the edges, you might just catch the wadding in a few places to further anchor it BUT you wont have a thick piece of wadding past the stitching which will hinder your turning it through. You can also trim any excess wadding away before your turn it.

And remember to cut off the corners before turning.

[wrenkins]

@Celia my first one wasn't great. I liked the picture but the finish was shocking! I'd tried to bind it (my first ever go at binding) and it looked ok from the front but the back was awful!
My second one I bagged but I didn't know all that stuff that Imi just said so I kind of winged it and ended up with a lil bit of hand finishing. 
Nobody is going to judge. It's just a bit of a laugh among friends and the chance to try something new. I tried a little bit of facing too (even though I didn't know that's what it was called till just now! 
Personally speaking when any of my swaps have arrived I've loved them and thought 'awww someone made that specially for me'. 

[Kenora]

@Celia - it's so exciting when something that's been made for you pops through the letterbox that you don't look at how it's been put together.

[WildAtlanticWay]

Cripes! I have no idea what ‘bagging out’ means.
I’m planning to edge my mat with bias binding.
It will be simple but hopefully fit for purpose.