How to Sew a Trivet with Circular Embroidery Attachment #83

We loved this post by our friend Minki Kim last year and we couldn’t wait to make our own trivet.

With our variation, we will use the BERNINA Circular Embroidery Attachment #83 to stitch a perfect circle that we will then use as a guide to cutting the circle. Sewing circles is fun and easy with the use of this attachment. This is a great accessory that works with all of our new BERNINA sewing machines. The concept is simple—a central pivot pin allows the fabric to be pulled under the presser foot in a circular motion. It works with decorative stitches too. Give it a try on a project like these trivets today.

Materials to Sew a Trivet

• BERNINA Sewing Machine (B 770 QE)
• Patchwork Foot #37D (with guide)
• Circular Embroidery Attachment #83
• Fabric
  • Light and Dark fabric scraps
  • 12” x 12” lining fabric
  • 12” x 12” batting
  • 2 ½ x 25” bias cut and pressed binding
• Cotton Thread
• Clover Roll & Press
• Clover Wonder Clips

Steps to Sew a Trivet with Circular Attachment #83

Step 1. Piece-As-You-Go

Using the Patchwork Foot #37D works great for this improvisational style of creating the top of this trivet. The side of the presser foot is a ¼” away from the needle on both sides so it is flexible and easy to build your patchwork. Using BERNINA Dual Feed on a project like this keeps your fabric and batting layers together so nicely.

You will be cutting several strips and squares of fabric – remember this is free-form, so don’t fret about the sizes.

Start in the center of the batting with a small square-ish shape right side up. Add the next fabric on top, with right sides together, and sew ¼” seam. Trim the fabric as you go. Since the batting is under the fabric you are already providing a great quilted structure to the trivet. To keep things moving fast, I like to use a seam roller, like this one by Clover. Continue adding strips of fabric log-cabin-style until your piece covers the 12” square of batting.

Step 2. Quilt It

Now that the top is pieced onto the batting you need to add the backing fabric and a few more simple rows of quilting to hold it all together. This is where my directions take you down a different path than the original post. I propose quilting before making the circle.

I love that our BERNINA presser feet can accommodate a right seam guide inserted directly onto the foot. This guide will come with most BERNINA machines. You may have noticed a small round screw at the back of your foot. This screw is there to hold the guide in place if you choose to use it. Sometimes people discover the screw has fallen off the back of the foot before they ever even realize the foot has this optional function, but since you are here reading—you will now know what the screw is for!

Tip: Use the attachable Seam Guides for your presser foot to keep even and consistent rows of stitching at any width you desire simply by moving the guide closer or further away from the presser foot.

Many of the BERNINA presser feet will accommodate an attachable guide directly onto the foot. To learn more about these kinds of guides check out this post.

I love using the guides on the feet because I can position it at any width. It gives a great visual for following a perfectly straight line. You can do rows of straight stitching or follow around the shapes of your patchwork—the choice is yours.

Step 3. Use Circular Attachment #83

Now the fun part! Attach the Circular Attachment #83 onto the Freearm of the machine to sew the circle. This attachment comes with the screw and screwdriver to install the device. You can use your favorite foot with the attachment—which also means that this is not so machine-specific. In fact, it will fit on several generations of BERNINA machines.

Once attached, center your quilted fabric piece onto the central pin of the attachment at the left and set the radius of your circle by moving the pin along with the slider of the attachment.

Here is a great post with more tips on the Circular Embroidery Attachment #83.

Sew the perfect circle for your trivet using the attachment.

Trim along the sewn circular shape at ¼” from the stitching.

Step 4. Add the Binding

The last step left is adding the binding. There are many ways you can do this, but I am pretty traditional and don’t mind a little hand sewing, so I attach my binding to the front with the sewing machine and then press it around to the back and hand-stitch it in place.

Cut the binding along the bias edge (45-degree angle to selvedge)—I prefer a 2 ½” width of fabric. Once cut, press the binding in half and attach to the edge of the trivet with Wonder Clips.

Sew the binding to the edge with a 3/8” seam allowance to fully conceal the sewn circle shape you cut around.

Press the binding to the back—with the bias cut, it will naturally conform to the shape of the circle. Then hand sew using a ladder stitch to the back of the trivet.

And with now you have your very own trivet too! We hope you enjoyed this project remake, and we especially want to thank our friend Minki Kim @zeriano for such a fun and inspiring project.