Coasters From Braided Scraps of Fabric

Here's a little projects I whipped up last weekend. I know, I know, with everyone totally geeking out about Christmas these days this project doesn't really fit in. But. It's a nice last minute project for a Christmas gift. Phew.
So suddenly, there was a pile of old and unwanted clothes in my room (do such strange things happen to you too?) and I didn't want to just throw them away. Because, well, clothes are made of fabric and  fabric is crafting material. And you just don't throw crafting material away, do you!? So I did a little bit of thinking and decided I would try to make yarn-like fabric strips, braid them together and then sew coasters out of it. I got the inspiration for it from a video on YouTube that I saw some months ago about how to make a rug from braided fabric strips. I took this inspiration and made... very small rugs.

Material: Old clothes or fabric in three colors of your liking. A sewing machine. Scissors. Some pins.

[1] Choose three different fabrics and cut them in scraps. Mine were about 2 inch wide, but you can make them wider if you wish. This will give you a chunkier coaster. You can try to cut one long strip or simply tie the short strips together to get a long one.
Tip: When it comes to braiding with very long pieces of fabric/yarn/etc. the strands tend to tangle very fast. To avoid that leave one of the fabrics in short strips and knot them together as you go. No tangling! And you will save SO much time!
[2] Braid the strands of fabric like normal until you reach the end/loose interest/have no fabric left in your house. For one coaster you won't need more than 40 inches. When the loose ends tangle and you need to bring order to your work, use a pin to secure the braided section. Just pin it through all three strands from the side.
[3] Get your sewing machine ready! I took pink yarn because I wanted the stitches to be visible in the end. Take one end of the finished braided band and start to curl. Two or three turns should be enough. Fixate with a pin and criss-cross over it with a simple stitch of your sewing machine for extra fixation.
[4] Now put your sewing machine on zig-zag stitch and start joining the braided bands. Curl and join as you go until the coaster has the preferred size. Cut the strands and sew around the outer edge of the coaster. Then, sew all the way back to the middle again with a smaller zig-zag stitch (same width but smaller step distance). This will fix smaller mistakes from the first round and make the stitches pop out more.

Done! I made these three coasters. They are so lovely rustic and sturdy and: washable! Yes! And it's a beautiful and easy recycling project, too! Have fun making your own!