How to Hang a Mug Rug (after you’ve made it!)

So you all know I have been learning to quilt. As part of that I decided I wanted a small project that I could finish quickly and feel a sense of accomplishment about.

So I decided to try a mug rug (some people call them mug mats). Which – if you’ve never heard of them – I hadn’t until a couple weeks ago! – is basically a super mini quilt that is about the right size for a coffee and a biscuit or something – like 6″ x 9″ or thereabouts.

Only thing is I don’t think I would actually use a mug rug myself. And I couldn’t think of anyone else in my life who wouldn’t be like ‘umm…a little quilt to put my coffee on? A big coaster then?’ So in the end what I decided to do was find a mug rug pattern but to hang as a little wall hanging.

I found this Sunshine and Rainbow Applique pattern by Ameroonie Designs and I decided it would be a nice little momento gift to both of my sons to mark this crazy covid-19 lockdown phase in our lives.

It also gave me a chance to try raw edge applique which I haven’t actually done before!

The one above is the one I made for my older son (he’s 3) and the one below is the one I made for my youngest (he’s 19 months). As you can see they are pretty similar as I used the same binding and also a lot of the same scraps for the rainbow and the sun.

I altered the background fabric based on the leftover bits of fabric I had and I experimented with two different walking foot quilting designs too.

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But here is the thing…I didn’t bother googling how to hang a mug rug or a mini quilt until after I had finished making them! Whoops!

Because, if you don’t already know, the two main ways people talk about hanging mini-quilts (with little corners or a pocket or loops for a dowel) are both done before you bind them!

That was a bit disappointing as I had no intention of unpicking the binding I’d just finished!

So I came up with my own after-the-fact mug rug hanging solution.

I thought I would share it here as it could also be helpful to you if you have been the recipient of a mug rug and you’d rather hang it on your wall to look at then put your coffee on it and risk spilling on it!

So here is what I did:

Hidden Hanging Loops & Buttons

I took two leftover pieces of binding strip – 2.5″ wide.

I folded them right sides together and sewed lengthways.

I then used a safety pin and chopstick to turn my inside out fabric tubes right side out.

I cut the strips into 2 4″ pieces per mug rug. So I had made two mug rugs, so I cut 4 strips of 4″ long.

I then folded each strip in half to create a loop and used my sewing machine’s button foot to create a button hole about half way down each loop. Don’t judge! – I’ve never used my button foot before so that was a learning moment for me too!

Lastly, I hand sewed buttons on the back of my mug rug.

Mug Rug with Hanging Loops

I was then able to attach my hanging loops to my mug rug with the buttons.

I used some chopsticks that were lying unused in my cutlery drawer in place of a dowel and then used that to hang the mug rugs on a nail on the wall.

Easy Peasy!

The two good parts about this method – besides being able to do it after the fact – are that a) you can take the loops off if you want at any time and just snip the buttons off and it’s back to how you started; and b) if you place your buttons correctly you can hide the dowel or chopstick so that the hanging element is completely hidden.

I was seriously so pleased with myself for figuring out a workaround after I kept googling how to do it and all I got was tutorials on how to add the hanging during the making process.

I will go back and look at those ones for the next time I try something like this of course! But for these ones, my ‘make it work’ solution is working just fine.

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