The Patchsmith: January 2023

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Chinese New Year of the Rabbit

The Patchsmith's Black Water Rabbit Mug Rug

For many the New Year celebrations are behind us. For others they are about to begin with the Chinese New Year of the rabbit – the black water rabbit to be precise. And I have just the thing to help you celebrate:

a FREE ‘Chinese Good Fortune’ applique template

You can use this template alongside my Bunny Hop mug rug pattern. Alternatively, you could create a coaster using just the Chinese Good Fortune templates.

The Patchsmith's Bunny Hop Mug Rug Pattern

If you wish to create your own Black Water Rabbit mug rug you will need my Bunny Hop mug rug pattern. Follow the instructions in the pattern to applique one black rabbit, the circle and the ‘Good Fortune’ pieces from the FREE Chinese Good Fortune templates onto your mug rug background.

You could create a water background using strips of fabric

If however, you wish to create a smaller coaster using just the Good Fortune template, you can find instructions on quick-fuse applique HERE.

I added two waves from my Swimmer pattern to the background but much of it is covered by the applique.

I recommend using felt for the calligraphy templates as they are small and a little fiddly. I would also recommend reading through my article on Quick Fuse Applique for hints and tips.

Felt hides a multitude of sins

Use a small pair of sharp scissors for cutting out the shapes and, if your cutting isn’t very neat, consider securing the pieces using a blanket stitch, either by hand or machine. This will hide many imperfections. If your cutting is smooth however, you can use a simple straight stitch on top of the applique shapes to secure them to your mug rug/coaster.