How to Cut Pennies for a Penny Rug

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Here I will teach you how to cut wool pennies for your next penny rug project.

Remember, you can use any circular object for a template.

i.e., pennies or coins (that's why they are called penny rugs),

buttons, bottle caps...anything round and of the desired size.

These are really good templates,

in graduated sizes from 3" to 3/4 of an inch,

for marking and cutting out circles for penny rugs.

I can recommend freezer paper from the grocery store for tracing and cutting fabrics into shapes. Prepare your wool. Hot wash, cold rinse, hot dryer. This action will open the scales in the wool and once opened they will bind together into a new formation, creating a new fabric. Fulled or felted, also known as boiled wool. I use woven fabrics, recycled skirts, blazers, slacks, blankets and the like. It's not uncommon to use knitted garments for penny rugs, although they can become a bit too thick to work with.

Lightly press your fabric first with a pressing cloth covering the wool. If you don't cover the cloth, your iron will create a permanent sheen on your wool. Press the freezer paper SHINY side down onto your wool. Press for a few good seconds, pressing the entire square of paper.

(Again, use a pressing cloth if the iron extends beyond your piece of freezer paper.)

Draw cirlces directly onto the freezer paper.

Next cut the circles into strips.

Then cut into individual pieces.

Carefully cut around the paper and the fabric.

Voila! Remove the paper from the circle.Another method, skip the freezer paper,

just hold the template directly against the fabric, cutting around it.

There you go; another perfect circle, ready to stitch!