Have you always wanted to try out that machine you see everywhere on TikTok and Instagram, where influencers make rugs? This machine is a tufting machine, and it's with this very machine that you can tuft a beautiful coaster at the Lieblingsstück Christmas market 2024 in Aarau, right in the middle of the market.  Whether it's for you or as a gift for your loved ones, your self-made pot coaster will look beautiful on the table even when there is no pot on it.    

We tuft it with New Zealand sheep's wool, which is naturally heat-resistant. This means that the pot mat will stay beautiful, unlike your burnt cork coasters. You can design it however you like, so that it perfectly matches the colour of your dining table or your grandmother's. As the saying goes, the way we eat is influenced by what we see.

What does the course include?

In just 1 to 1.5 hours, you can tuft a finished coaster without any prior knowledge. On 21 December, I, Jenni from Tuftinglove.com, will be in the cosy workshop studio of the Christmas market with my team, introducing you to the colourful world of tufting. You don't need any prior knowledge, just a desire to tuft. You can bring your own design in the size 19cm or use a template from us. 

With our over 36 different colours of our New Zealand sheep’s wool, you can design the coaster according to your taste. I will provide you with all the material you need for your coaster. If you would like to make another pot mat after the course, you can do so in a later workshop on the same day at a reduced price and without supervision, provided there is still a place available.

Course process

After a short introduction to the tufting machine, you can get started right away. You choose a design from our templates and transfer it to your pre-tensioned tufting frame. You can choose your favourite wool colours from our colourful mobile yarn wall. The wool is threaded into the tufting machine and then you are ready to start. You use the tufting machine to stitch through the fabric, press the machine firmly onto the fabric and then step on the gas. 

After a few practice lines, you will already be tufting your Lieblingsstück pot mat. In no time at all, you will get a feel for the machine and make good progress. If you make a mistake, you can simply pull the wool out of the fabric and start again. The machine pushes the threads through the fabric and cuts them off. To prevent your pot mat from simply disintegrating, we glue the whole thing together and finish it off with felt. You can now remove the piece from the frame and use a razor to smooth it down a little. 

Your very own fluffy pot mat is now finished! While the glue dries, you can continue to explore the Christmas market in a relaxed manner. Once you get home, all you have to do is cut the pot mat out of the fabric.

You can find us in this pretty pavilion at the favourite Christmas market in Aarau. Source: https://www.weihnachtsmarktaarau.ch/workshops

How does the tufting machine actually work?

When tufting, we always work on the base fabric, the so-called tufting cloth. This is stretched on a frame so that we can work on it cleanly. It is important to know that we always work from the back, so we tuft the image mirror-inverted on the fabric. What the tufting machine does is push the yarn through the tufting cloth to the other side and then cut it. 

This means that a tufted carpet, or your pot mat, consists of nothing but wool snippets wedged in the base fabric. You can also tuft carpets with yarn, but for your pot mat we use heat-resistant sheep's wool from New Zealand. The wool snippets cut by the tufting machine create a fluffy, soft pile (that's what the carpet surface is called).

The machine is easy to use and light, so you will quickly get a feel for the world's most amazing textile craft and quickly tuft line after line of your pot mat. In this tufting course, we will be tufting with the AK-I Cut pile tufting machine, which you can also find in our online shop. It is the absolute favourite machine in all our courses and the classic among tufting machines. 

The AK-I is one of the most popular tufting machines.

(No) own design

If you're not feeling particularly creative, you're welcome to use our design templates to create your favourite piece of pot stand. You can, of course, change the colour combinations if you like. If you want to bring your own template, that's no problem either. 

Just bring it with you in printed and original size so that we can transfer it directly to the tufting frame and you can get started. Please make sure that your design is not too complex. It is best to use our design templates as a guide. A little tip: a tufted line is about as wide as when you squeeze the tip of your little finger. It is better to leave small fonts and curlicues to calligraphers. 

Da Vinci was not wrong when he said: 

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

You are also welcome to send us your design by email so that we can take a quick look at it: