Give a Gift
As we settle into new routines and explore new territories of living and learning during this change of season, I want to invite you to complete a small project—one of beauty and function. The Paws for Thought trivet captures the essence of a pet. It could serve as an introduction to the art of rug hooking or a quick, fun project for a more seasoned rug hooker. Let’s begin!
Getting Started
Start your project by cutting your backing to 15 by 18 inches. This size allows for the backing to fit snugly into your 10-inch hoop frame. This size of backing is
the minimum required for you to, on occasion, tighten the backing in your hoop when working on this trivet. Be sure to finish the edges of your backing fabric on all sides using a tight, small stitch to prevent fraying.
Print out the patterns for the front and back sides of the trivet and glue the paper patterns to pieces of light cardboard. Once the glue has dried, using your pair of paper-cutting scissors and your cutting blade on your cutting surface, cut away the excess—including the shape of the paw print—to form templates suitable for tracing onto your fabric.
The pattern traced onto the backing material.
Trace the front pattern onto your backing fabric using the Sharpie mark er. Trace the back pattern onto a piece of lightweight wool or stable cotton fabric, noting that a 3/8-inch seam allowance has been added all the way around the outside edge. Cut this circular shape out of the fabric using your fabric scissors and set it aside, as you will need it to finish your project.
Center your backing fabric within your hoop and tighten the grip, gently tugging the overhanging edges to create a taut surface (“Tight as a drum”). The tighter the backing is in your hoop, the easier it is to hook, as a snug backing decreases the amount of stress on your wrist when hooking.
MATERIALS & SUPPLIES
- 10″ or smaller embroidery hoop
- 15″ x 18″ piece of backing fabric
- Black Sharpie marker
- A small piece of light cardboard, such as a file folder or cereal box
- Two-ply worsted-weight wool yarn for whipstitching the edge
- 1/2 yd. cotton or hemp twine—1/4″ or 3/8″ in diameter
- Dressmaker pins and a variety of hand-sewing needles
- Sewing machine or serger
- Fat quarter of a medium-weight cotton or lightweight wool fabric for the back of the completed piece
- Small amount of white or light-colored cotton fabric for a label
- Carpet knife/box cutter knife
- Cutting mat or wooden board
- Any rug hook in a medium size
- Two pairs of scissors—one for cutting the cardboard and one to be used only for cutting fabric and yarn
- Fabric cutter machine (or use precut strips of wool in a #5 cut)
- Indelible fine-point pen in black
- Tea towels
- Iron and ironing board
- Glue stick
- Wool for the background—at least 20″ x 16″
- Wool for the paw pads—approximately 6″ x 16″
- Paws for Thought pattern
A Beginner’s Guide to Hooking the Trivet
Using your fabric cutter, cut some strips of rug-hooking wool in your choice of background color. (If you do not have a cutting machine, check with your local rug-hooking supply store to see if they will cut your
#5 strips for you. There may be a nominal cost.) A good-quality wool such as Dorr will hold the #5 cut very well and will not shred when cut. Take one strip and, using your hook, pull a short end of the strip up to the surface through one of the spaces in the weave of the fabric near the outer edge. Hold your hook firmly in your palm to do this. Then, pull the strip up again in a neighboring space, forming a short loop. Your goal is to gauge the spacing of these loops so as not to have any backing showing through between them. They should be approximately 1/8 inch in height.
Keep pulling up loops of the wool strip in every other spot just inside the marked line on the outer edge of your design. This complete cir-cle of hooking will help to stabilize your pattern. Be sure to keep your backing snug and careful not to pull on the overhanging backing fabric, which can cause fraying. You can hook a second row, again going around the inside edge of the last hooked row. This method of stabilizing your hooking can be done in small and large hooking projects in the future.
Heather filled in her paw print first, but beginners may want to hook around the outer border to help stabilize their design.
The view from the back of the trivet as the cording is sewn into the backing material.
Each time you start a new strip of the wool, pull up a single strand in the previously hooked hole, “twinning” the ends together. Those two pieces, in the same hole, will be clipped to an even height once the mat is fully hooked. Do not trim these ends at this early stage of hooking.
You do not need to fill in your entire background at this point. After hooking a few outer rows, move to the inside edge of each pad on the paw, using the same hooking style. Once these small areas are outlined, you can fill them in. To complete the design, return to filling in the background.
This completed piece of rug hooking should be flat and not buckle. If your piece has started to buckle or warp, that is an indication that your loops are hooked too closely to-gether. What you are trying to achieve is an even tension and loop height so that your mat will lie as flat as possible. You can always go back and rehook a few loops, if necessary.
Once you’ve filled in the design with loops, congratulate yourself on hooking your piece! Then, take a few minutes to review your design from the back. The back of any hooked piece should be neat and tidy, without any bumps or tangled wool strips.
Steaming
Remove the hooked piece from the hoop and gently smooth it out on your ironing board with your hand. Thoroughly wet and slightly wring out a tea towel and roll the hooked piece in the wet towel. Make sure the hooked piece is completely encased in the wet towel. Then, roll the second tea towel, which should be heavier and dry, around the wet one. Set this aside for a day to allow the wool to absorb the moisture of the inner wet tea towel.
The steaming process is next. Unroll your dampened hooked piece and set it aside. The outer, dry tea towel will be used as your pad to press on. The inner, wet tea towel will be used as a pressing cloth once it is resoaked. Lay the dry towel, then the hooked piece, and then the wet towel flat in a stack on the ironing board. With your hot, dry iron, press on the wet tea towel with an up-and-down motion to create steam and to seal the fibers of the wool in your hooking. Then, turn your hooked design over, once again layering the towels. Press the back thoroughly in the same way. This entire process sets the wool with the loops. Do this technique a few times, until the hooked piece has been pressed completely and lies flat.
After steaming, remove the upper and lower towels and let the freshly steamed piece lie flat on a clean, dry surface. It may take up to 48 hours for the piece to dry. Try not to disturb or move it until then.
Finishing the Trivet
You are now ready to begin finishing the trivet. Cut away your extra backing, leaving an approximately two-inch seam allowance from the outer edge of your hooked trivet. Zigzag or serge this circular raw edge to stop it from fraying. Place your narrow cord of hemp or cotton twine around the outer edge of the hooking from the back side, and begin to fold the excess backing inward, encasing the cord. Whipstitch over this with a needle and thread to hold everything in place. The goal here is to create a rolled edge or “ridge” to whipstitch over using your two-ply yarn. Be sure to butt the beginning and end of the cording together to form one continuous length surrounding the trivet. Do not overlap the cord, as it creates a bulky, unsightly edge and will not whip evenly or smoothly.
Whipstitching over the edge created by the cord.
The back of the trivet with the back cover pinned in place.
Take a larger-eyed hand-sewing needle suitable for hold-ing a double strand of two-ply yarn (a darning needle, for example) and thread it. Insert the threaded darning needle into the space between the outer edge of the hooking and the pre-whipped edge. Make sure to leave a yarn tail of approximately seven inches, as this will be sewn into the whipped border at the end.
Begin to whipstitch the rolled/corded edging, complete-ly encasing your previous work. You will need to maintain good tension and even spacing all the way around the edge. Take your time completing this stage of the project. It may take some practice to make the stitching evenly spaced and neat. It can be very rewarding to take the time necessary to finish the edge, as your piece of hooking will be protected and last longer. Keep checking the back of your hooked piece to ensure there are no blank spaces or bunches of yarn twisted underneath or on the outside edge. This whip-ping technique can be done on future wall hangings and mats as well.
The labels on the back of the two trivets.
The labels on the back of the two trivets.
Your Paws for Thought trivet is nearly complete. At this point, if any of the backing is wrinkled, you can use a few spritzes of water to dampen it and press it flat. Allow it to dry before proceeding. In the meantime, press the seam allowance of the lightweight wool or cotton fabric piece under the main fabric circle to form a folded edge. This can be achieved by placing the cotton fabric circle right side down and using the pointed end of the iron to press the seam allowance edge toward the center of the fabric.
Using your dressmaker’s pins, pin the wrong side of the hooked piece to the wrong side of the fabric circle. This is done in preparation to stitch the back cover into place to hide the underside of the visible hooked stitches. Using a matching color of sewing thread, make small stitches into the ditch of the corded edge and into the top of the edge of your cotton fabric circle. Try to hand stitch approxi-mately every quarter inch and as evenly as possible. Once this is done, gently press down the fabric to help it lie flat.
If you wish to create a label for your trivet, use the shape of the largest paw pad from the front-side pattern. Allow for a narrow seam allowance around the label. Turn that allowance toward the underside of the fabric. Before stitch-ing this in place, write the name of your pet, the date, your name, and any other pertinent details. Hand sew this into place at the bottom of the hooked piece.
The trivet is now finished and ready to show and share! If you are a beginner rug hooker, I hope you have enjoyed this process and learned much from creating a functional yet fun piece of art. Think of the possibilities of design-ing and hooking your future projects—a time to pause for thought! WLRH
“It can be very rewarding to take the time necessary to finish the edge, as your piece of hooking will be protected and last longer.”
NOTE: The Paws for Thought pattern is in the pattern section at the end of the magazine.
Heather Etches lives in London, Ontario, Canada. A widow who lives with her cat, she is a rug-hooking enthusiast. Her interests include gluten-free cooking, Indigenous cultures, and nature.