Sew a Mug Rug — Quick and Easy Sewing Project

Sew a mug rug to protect your table and make your coffee break a little cuter.

A mug rug is like an oversized coaster that you can use to hold your drink and a little snack. They can be just about any size you like and sewn with any material you have on hand.

My Messy Mug Rug

I have one on my desk that I made with a bunch of random fabric scraps, using a bit of leftover homemade bias tape for the edging. It’s lined with a bit of old receiving blanket.

That one measures about 6.5 by 8.5 inches, and you can tell I made it for myself and in a hurry because it’s not well done at all.

How to Sew a Mug Rug

To make a better version of a mug rug (these were part of a gift basket my daughter’s school is auctioning off) I used three fat quarters.

I had two that were prints and one solid blue. (The school’s colors are blue and white.)

I cut the prints into 4 by 4 inch squares and sewed two of each together, then sewed each set of two to another set with the prints reversed.

Lining and Finishing

I don’t know if they strictly need lining, but whenever I sew a mug rug I like to put an extra, thin layer of something in there to give a little more protection to the table if you have a hot beverage.

For these I used an old napkin cut to size.

The back of the mug rug I cut about an inch larger all around than the front piece, and then folded the edges over twice so that the backing is also the edging.

You can use bias tape around the edge if you’d rather, but using the backing fabric allows you to make a mug rug really fast (and I was in a hurry so this was perfect for me).

When you have the backing and edging sewn, add a little topstitching to keep the layers from shifting. I just did two diagonal lines of stitching, corner to corner, on mine. If you’re in less of a hurry you can do more.

Make a Mug Rug for a Gift

This is the first time I’ve made a mug rug for someone else, but I love the idea of throwing a few of these into a gift bag when giving someone coffee or a beverage-related gift.

Maybe a teacher appreciation gift of coffee or a gift card to their favorite place, a travel mug and a mug rug or two? Two is nice so you can wash one and still have one on your desk.

That would make me pretty happy as a birthday present, too, not gonna lie.

If you make a mug rug for yourself I’m pretty sure you’ll be delighted by it and start looking for excuses to make more. It’s a great way to use scraps or novelty fabrics if you’re making a mug rug with a theme.