Confessions of a Fussy Old Lady

I’m pretty sure I’ve been a fussy old lady all my life. Now that I’m starting to creep up on 70 (I’ll be 69 this fall), it feels a little like my age is finally catching up to my personality.

For example, I much prefer to sip my coffee from a ceramic mug; and if I’m getting a cappuccino or latte at a cafe, it should be served in a roundish cup with a handle, on a saucer. If it’s available in a paper cup only, I am less likely to return (although I do allow for circumstances), and if it’s in a glass tumbler with a paper sleeve? Please.

As for the mug, it really should not be too large—for me, there is no reason for one that holds more than 12 ounces. I put cream in my coffee, and I drink it slowly, so an extra four ounces would just go to waste because it would be cold before I got to it.

A right-sized mug at Northern Coffeeworks, with my own coaster and napkin.

Also: Lacking a saucer, a mug needs a coaster. I used to take an extra napkin for that purpose, but I felt a little guilty because now I’m using two of the coffee shop’s napkins. At some point a few years ago, I began carrying a cloth napkin in my backpack, mainly because I prefer them, and also to reduce waste.

But if you’re having a cookie or other treat with your coffee—and why wouldn’t you?—you need one napkin to wipe your fingers and a second one on which to place your mug. So I started carrying a coaster in my bag as well.

For a couple of years, I used some sturdy paperboard letterpress-printed coasters with plaid patterns from the now-defunct Studio on Fire in St. Paul. (You can see them on the designer’s website, but I don’t know if you can buy them any more.)

As those gradually got more and more coffee-stained, I got to thinking about making some coasters out of cloth, which would also be a nice way to play around with slow stitching on a small scale—a sort-of-new term for hand sewing, especially decorative stitching like embroidery, with an emphasis on the process itself more than on making a thing. Except I have a predilection for functional art, so I prefer to make a thing I can use, and I could use a coaster.

Inspired by the abstract embroidery of Bonnie Sennott, I sandwiched some interfacing between two scraps of linen fabric (sourced from an old shirt), and basted through the layers to hold everything together. I did not use iron-on interfacing because I thought the adhesive would gum up the needle when I sewed through it.

I traced around a template that was square with rounded corners (actually a plastic lid from a box of raisins), and cut out a few of them from the layered cloth, then machine-sewed around the edges so they would hold together securely and I could work on them one by one at my leisure.  

The coaster I carry with me and a blank one, ready to be embellished.

While catching a show or podcast on my iPad, I started by edging the coaster with a blanket stitch, then traced overlapping circular patterns with an embroidery transfer pen, using a canning jar lid as my template, and sewed on those lines with an assortment of basic embroidery stitches.

The tricolored plaid dot is made with a kind of needle weaving used for darning, inspired by the amazing visible mending techniques of Collingwood-Norris.

This can all be done—and, in my opinion is best done—with materials I already have laying around or can source secondhand. I love finding sewing notions while browsing at estate sales and vintage shops, but if I don’t have something I need when I’m about to begin a project, there are a couple of online stores I turn to.

I’ve gotten a lot of used/not actually used (but old) embroidery floss from Junket: Tossed & Found, and other sewing and craft supplies there, too.

I also like A Thrifty Notion for notions and fabric; and, of course, many Etsy sellers carry used supplies for all the fiber arts.

It’s doubly satisfying to this fussy old lady when I can combine thrifting and crafting, and keep my projects small and easily completed.