FREE Pattern: Applique Cuddle Garden Rug

Spring is nearly here!  I'm getting ready for the upcoming sunshine, flowers and greenery, by starting some "blooms" inside with my DIY Appliqué Cuddle Garden Rug!

This sweet plush rug has lots of cheery flowers growing up from some ribbed minky fabric "soil". 

Like my Little Narwhal rug, this rug is made from a cuddly minky (aka cuddle) fabric on the outside.  The interior is upholstery foam to make it cushioned & supportive. 

All the appliqués are cozy, cuddly minky fabric too so the rug is heavenly underfoot.  It also makes a pretty wall hanging!

It has an envelope opening on the back so it's easy to remove and wash when needed, unlike most rugs.  

There's a little stuffing inside the flower centers and bluebird to give it a bit of extra dimension too:

I've made it easy for you to make too by creating some free download files for all the appliqués!

Materials:
- 1 1/2yds blue minky fabric for the main rug
- 1/2yd cut of green minky fabric 
- 1/4yd cut of brown minky fabric
- Minky fabric scraps in yellow, blue, pink
- 1yd 24 inch wide, 1 inch thick craft foam
- My Cuddle Garden Applique PDF Pattern Pg. 1 & Pg. 2 
- High loft batting, handful of polyfil
- Fabric adhesive spray
- Walking foot, heavy duty needle, disappearing marker 

Download, print & cut out my Applique PDF Pattern pieces, at 100% (no scaling), PG. 1 HERE & PG. 2 HERE.

                 

Here's how to put it together:

I cut my one inch thick foam to the final rug size: 36in wide by 24in high.   

I then cut the front & back pieces, with the nap going in the same direction.  

- Main front piece: 38in wide by 26.5in high 
- Back pieces: (1) 14in wide by 26.5in high + (1) 31in wide by 26.5in high.  

I folded the narrow & wide back pieces two inches toward the wrong side, used spray adhesive to hold them in place, then stitched them down.

I traced the various appliqué pieces on their corresponding color fabrics, using a disappearing marker on the wrong sides of the fabric, and cut them all out.  I also freehand cut out: 

- (2) flower stems 1.5in wide by 18in high
- (1) flower steam 1.5in wide by 16in high
- (2) pairs of tall curving leaves about 1.5in wide by 12 in high that end in a point

I centered my three flower stem appliqués along the main rug fabric and used fabric adhesive spray to attach my appliqué fabric on the wrong side so I could be sure to have the right placement & no shifting while sewing.  

Next, I topstitched the appliqués in place, starting with the flower stems, then adding the leaves to overlap them and finally the flower petals, centers and bird.  I left a one inch gap in the circular centers and bird to stuff them with some polyfil using a chopstick and stitched the gap closed.  A dot of puff paint creates a little eye for the bird.

The last appliqué piece added was the brown soil strip at the bottom so that it covered the bottom ends of the flower stems.

To finish the rug I laid the smaller end of the back face down over the front, pinned the matching 3 sides and stitched them together.  Then I placed the wider back piece on, lining up its top, bottom and side with the front's, pinned & stitched.  This created the envelope overlap of a few inches for the back opening:

I turned it right side out and stuffed in my foam piece:

This rug is the perfect addition to my daughter's room and has got us all set for spring to appear outside too!