Free Penny Rug Candle Mat Pattern! “Fall Freebie”

It’s time for me to give all of you wonderful readers something free.
I’m going to show you exactly how to make this “EEKS!, SPIDERS!” Penny Rug Candle mat.

“EEKS!, SPIDERS!”

I made this in one afternoon, so I’m sure even the slowest stitcher would be able to make this in one day.

Use this design however you wish.  All I ask is that if you do sell the finished item on Ebay, Etsy, etc, you give "Cath's Pennies Designs" credit and mention in the item description. 

Let’s start!
Here’s some things you’ll need to make this is:
Some wool for the background, size#5 black Pearle Cotton Thread, a ruler, a chalk pencil or marker, scissors, of course, and I didn’t show it in the picture, but you’ll need some scraps of black wool for the spiders.
Here’s the quick sketch of the design ….

The wool that I used for the background is a mottled orange which measures 12” x 20”, but that size can easily be adjusted to make it smaller or larger. 

Keep in mind too that this background wool wouldn’t have to be a mottled orange.  Other colors would work for this design too.  A light brown or off white colored wool would work or for something really dramatic, you could try a black wool background and make the spiders and web a silver/grey color. 
Once your background wool is cut to the size you wish …
Use your chalk pencil to draw the lines for the spider web. 
Just 3 angled lines is all that is needed for now.  The lines I drew are 8” long, but you can adjust your measurements according to how much smaller or larger your background size is.
With the size 5 thread, backstitch along the drawn lines (you can find this pearl cotton thread right in with the regular embroidery floss at Joann Fabrics or Micheal’s)
The stitches look a bit puckered here but no fret, once it’s steam ironed, it will lay flat and smooth.
*TIP*   If you notice some chalk still remaining on your wool after you’ve stitched, take a damp cotton cloth and lightly rub to remove the chalk.
Now just make straight stitches to finish the web.  I didn’t bother drawing the lines with chalk.  This part of the web doesn’t have to be even or perfect so just stitch and have fun with it.  I think the more crooked the lines, the better it would look!
Just about done!  …and again, don’t fret if the threads don’t like perfectly smooth.  As long as you  make the stitches not too tight but not too loose, a  steam iron will do the job for you.
Once this side is done, flip the wool to the other side and stitch the same web on the other corner.
Once both webs are stitched, now take this to your ironing board.
With a pressing cloth and lots of steam , steam press the top of this, right over the stitching.
*TIP* I like to use a cotton pillow case as a pressing cloth.But anything cotton that will hold up to the temp of the iron will work.  Thin Cotton towels work nice too.  
Now we’ll stitch in the line that the spider will dangle from.
I measured about 2 3/4” from the right side and drew an 8” long line with my chalk pencil.  Depending on the size of your background wool, adjust your measurements accordingly.
Backstitch along the chalk line.  We’re ready to create the spiders!
We need to make two circles for each spider.  Always use a penny (or coin) to make a penny rug circle!
Here, I used a quarter and a penny to create the circles.  Just draw around the coins with your chalk pencil.
You can see that these circles aren’t perfectly drawn, so  don’t worry about being exact … it’s just a spider body! 
Cut the circles out and place them right at the end of the dangling thread ….
Blanket stitch the large circle first, but leave a little opening ….
and stuff in a little bit of wool roving or polyfil, if you wish.
It’s not necessary to stuff the body but it plumps up the spider a bit.
Finish blanket stitching the rest of the way around the large circle to complete it.

Stitch the smaller circle the same way, stopping to stuff just a bit of fiberfil or roving.

That spider needs some legs!

Just make two straight stitches to create each of the legs.

I want to add some spiders to the web too so I stitched them on the same way.

EEKS!  SPIDERS!

Can you see how the stuffing in the spiders make them plump?

Yikes, these are creepy looking spiders!

Ok, so the top is done now.  See, that didn’t take long at all, did it?

Now we’ll attach the backing.

I’m using a cotton backing here. 
To get the correct size for the backing, I added 1 inch to the length and width of the wool top size.  So in this case, the wool top is 12” x 20” so I’ll cut the cotton backing 13” x 21”.
I pressed the fabric edges 1/2” under all the way around the outside of the cotton fabric and then pinned it onto my wool.

  I blanket stitched all around the edges.

And finally, to finish, I steam pressed the back of the entire penny rug so that the edges lay nice and smooth.

I wish I had a black candle to use for the center of this, but my autumn candle will have to do!

  “EEKS! SPIDERS!”

A quick and easy Penny Rug Candle Mat to make for your Halloween Table … and it’s FREE!

If you’d like to purchase the mottled orange wool to make this, just email me at cathspennies@gmail.com   and I’ll send you a Paypal invoice.

Happy Day y’all!