{Be Thrifty} Braided Rug Hot Pad/Coasters

i did this project a few years ago and when i needed some gifts for friends recently, i decided to bring it back and share a new tutorial with y’all while i was doing it! i love how homey & vintage these look and they add the perfect touch of color under mugs, sauce pans & dishes!! they are so simple to create…making it the perfect project to work on during movie nights or long car rides! i made the set of coasters in less than 45 minutes so they don’t take long at all!

Materials >> scrap fabric or chosen coordinating fabrics | scissors | a few safety pins |needle & thread

step 1 >> cut your fabric into 1 inch strips (since i was using new fabric, my strips ended up being about 40″ long. one braid made from  3 strips made one coaster… 3 of those braids made a hot pad)
 steps 2-4 >> stack 3 strips and safety pin them to something stationary (kind of like the way friendship bracelets are made!). braid your  fabric together. ( i use a slightly loose braid but you can always pull the fabric together more tightly to get a stiffer braid!) when you reach the end of your fabric, do a few quick stitches through the end to hold it together– trim off the ends to make them even.
steps 5-7 >> while your top end is still safety pinned to the fabric, take the end you just finished and turn it in so it faces the length of braid, making a closed loop. stitch it to the main section of braid and make sure this portion is secure before moving on. continue wrapping the braid around in a circle, stitching as you go to secure the braids together. stretch your circle a little as you go to keep it flat. (the picture on the far right shows what your back will look like– you can see the stitches a little more clearly here). when you’ve come to the end of your braid, tuck the end under so it doesn’t show and then secure it well. if your circle isn’t as large as you’d like, simply start another braid where you left off and keep going until you’re happy with the size!!   >> here’s an image of the coaster in comparison to the size of the hot pad:)