Driven partly by my husband putting a wet glass on our desk, I decided to make some drink coasters using fabric and cork rounds. I had the idea for awhile and finally found some cork thingees locally (they are easy to order online but I wanted immediate gratification) at Michael's.
I used Cicada Studio fabric, lovely hand printed fabric by Michelle Engel Bencsko. This fabric is linen and hemp.
I just traced the cork form onto the back of the fabric, cut it out and used Mod Podge to glue it on. Then after that set awhile, I brushed on a few more layers of Mod Podge to seal it. The Mod Podge completely sealed the edges so there is no way the edges will ravel, pretty cool. Although we do use them now, there are a few things I might do differently next time.
The cork is dark so when the light colored fabric is on the cork, it does darken the color a little. I would use some white cardboard next time to a) lighten the fabric color and b) give the cork some more stability. Which is the second thing I would change. The cork is kind of flimsy and I was envisioning a more stiff coaster so I think a thick piece of cardboard would do the trick.
And one other problem I can't solve. If the glass is sweating, it sticks to the coaster, annoying. Not sure how to fix that.
You want the hard coat Mod Podge. It has to cure for a long time (30 days? whatever it says on the package), but then it's much more water-safe. Not completely, but you shouldn't have the sticking problem.
ReplyDeleteExcellent project!
Cool! Thanks Kelly! I didn't think anything could be better than regular Mod Podge. :)
ReplyDeleteKelly is right - and then hit it with an outdoor sealer. You need a barrier since the MP is adhesive based. Come see me any time for more tips, I love these!
ReplyDelete