Things You'll Need:
- Wool or acrylic felt
- Coins
- Sharp, small scissors
- Embroidery floss
- Sharp embroidery needle
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Step 1
Collect felt in a variety of colors for your penny rug. Purchase wool, wool blend or acrylic felt at the craft store or make your own. Turn wool sweaters or wool fabric into felt by washing in the washing machine on hot. Dry in the dryer to further shrink the wool.
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Step 2
Use a variety of coins as cutting templates. Use pennies, nickels, quarters and half-dollars to cut circles for penny rugs. Try simple coloring pages for easy to cut basic flower or basket shapes to add to your felt penny rugs. Cut a larger piece of wool to size as a backing for your runner or mat.
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Step 3
Organize the pieces for the penny rug by color. Determine the arrangement of colors and shapes on the background fabric.
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Step 4
Stitch around the edge of the felt penny rug with a blanket stitch. Knot your thread, and bring it through the edge fabric from back to front. Take the thread down through the fabric approximately 1/4 inch away on the diagonal from the original entry point. Come up through the fabric at the edge of the felt. Keep the thread under the needle to create the blanket stitching. (See Resources for a pictorial tutorial.)
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Step 5
Sew each felt piece into place on the backing fabric using the blanket stitch. Layer and stack the small coin-shaped pieces. Work the entire penny rug in circles, or add a floral motif to the center of your penny rug.
