Crochet Sunflower Coaster - A Cheerful Step - By - Step

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Crochet Sunflower Coaster - A Cheerful Step - By - Step

★★★★★ 4.7 · 81

Wren Halloway01.08.2026JUMP TO TUTORIAL

Every autumn I make a little pile of these on my kitchen table while my sourdough starter does absolutely nothing interesting on the counter beside it. This crochet sunflower coaster started as a way to use up scraps of brown and yellow cotton yarn, and it turned into one of the most-requested patterns on the blog. It works up in an evening, it's genuinely beginner-friendly once you understand back loop only and picot stitches, and it makes your coffee mug look like it belongs in a farmhouse magazine. Grab your 4.0mm hook, friend, and let's make something cheerful.

Gather Your Sunflower Stash

I keep a basket of leftover cotton yarn by my crochet chair specifically for projects like this one, and this coaster is the perfect excuse to dig into it. You do not need much of either color, which makes it a fantastic stash-buster.

• Brown cotton yarn — for the center, roughly the size of a golf ball is plenty
• Yellow cotton yarn — for the petals, a bit more than the brown
• 4.0mm crochet hook — cotton yarn likes a slightly smaller hook for a tighter, sturdier fabric
• Yarn needle — for weaving in ends and closing up the center
• Scissors — nothing fancy, just something sharp

I always reach for cotton over acrylic for coasters because it holds its shape under a warm mug and washes up beautifully. The finished piece measures about 11 to 13 cm (4.5 to 5 inches) across, petal tip to petal tip, which is generous enough for a mug or a small plant pot.

Abbreviations & Stitches You Will Need

Before we pick up the hook, let's make sure the shorthand makes sense — I remember staring at a pattern years ago wondering what on earth ‘MR’ meant, so no judgment here if any of these are new.

• MR = Magic Ring, an adjustable loop to start working in the round
• ch = Chain
• sl st = Slip Stitch
• sc = Single Crochet
• hdc = Half Double Crochet
• dc = Double Crochet
• picot = ch 2, sl st in first ch — the little pointed detail at each petal tip

One note that trips people up: this whole pattern is worked in joined rounds, meaning you finish each round with a slip stitch into the first stitch rather than spiraling continuously the way you might in amigurumi. It keeps the sunflower shape flat and symmetrical instead of twisting.

Step 1: Build the Center Ring

Start with your brown yarn. Make a magic ring, chain 1, then work 12 single crochet stitches into the ring. Pull that tail firmly to close the hole — this is the step I rushed on my first attempt and ended up with a little gap right in the center, which is annoying to fix after the fact.

Join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet to close the round. You should land on exactly 12 stitches.

Keep your stitches a touch looser than feels natural here. A tight center ring makes round two fight you when you try to work into it.

Looking at that top-down view of the little brown circle, you can already see the twelve neat stitches fanning out evenly — that even spacing is what gives the finished sunflower its symmetry later, so it's worth counting twice before moving on.

Step 2: Enlarge the Center

Chain 2 (counts as your first double crochet), then work 2 dc in every stitch around. Every single stitch from round one gets doubled, no skipping. Join with a slip stitch to the top of your starting chain 2, and you will have 24 dc total.

Lay the piece flat on the table after this round. That comparison of 12 sc versus 24 dc says it all — if your circle is cupping like a little bowl instead of lying flat, your increases are too tight; if it's rippling and wavy at the edges, you increased too much somewhere. Flat and gently domed is exactly right.

• Formula to remember: increase in every stitch, no exceptions, for this round only
• Each pair of dc shares one base stitch from the round below

Step 3: Set Up the Petal Loops

Switch to yellow yarn and join it in the back loop only of any stitch — that's the loop farthest from you as you look at your work. Working in the back loop only leaves the front loop free, which is what gives the finished coaster that layered, textured ridge between the brown center and the yellow petals.

From there: *sl st in next st, ch 5, skip 1 st*, repeating that sequence all the way around, then joining to your very first slip stitch. You should end up with 12 chain-5 loops ringing the center, evenly spaced like the numbers on a clock face in that diagram.

Keep the loops consistent in size as you go — if one comes out noticeably longer, the petal built on top of it later will stick out and throw off the whole flower shape.

Step 4: Crochet One Perfect Petal

Now the fun part. Into each chain-5 loop, you will work the same little sequence that builds one pointed petal:

1. sc, hdc, 3 dc
2. picot (ch 2, sl st in first ch) right at the tip
3. 3 dc, hdc, sc to finish coming back down

That picot at the peak is what gives each petal its pointed, almost hand-drawn look instead of a rounded blob. If picot stitches are new to you, go slowly the first time — chain 2, then slip stitch into that very first chain you just made, not into the loop below it. It should form a tiny knot sitting right at the petal tip.

This single petal, worked once, is your practice round. Once it looks like the sunflower petal in that close-up photo, with the stitch counts climbing evenly from base to tip and back down, you're ready to do it eleven more times.

Step 5: Repeat Around for All 12 Petals

Repeat that exact petal sequence in each remaining chain-5 loop. This is genuinely the most relaxing part of the whole pattern — I usually do this stretch with my coffee going cold beside me because I get absorbed in the rhythm of it.

Watch the progress photo here: petal by petal, the flower blooms outward, and it's oddly satisfying to see the brown center disappear behind a ring of yellow points. Try to keep each petal tip centered over its loop rather than leaning to one side, which keeps the whole coaster looking balanced from above.

After your twelfth and final petal, fasten off and use your yarn needle to hide that last join invisibly into the seam on the back, rather than leaving a visible knot on the front. Twelve petals total, and the sunflower shape is officially complete.

Step 6: Finish, Block, and Let It Bloom

Weave in every loose end on the back — you can see in that photo just how many tails a project like this leaves behind, but a few minutes with a yarn needle and they disappear completely.

Then comes my favorite step: blocking. Lightly steam the coaster or wet block it (dunk in cool water, squeeze out the excess, no wringing), then gently shape each petal flat with your fingers and let it dry completely on a towel. Compare the before and after in that photo — the unblocked petals curl in on themselves a little, but blocking relaxes the stitches and opens each one up flat, which is what gives the finished piece that crisp, photo-worthy shape.

Care note: hand wash and lay flat to dry, the same way you blocked it, so it keeps its shape for years of coffee mugs to come.

DIY-Tutorial Pin Print

Crochet Sunflower Coaster - A Cheerful Step - By - Step

★★★★★ 4.7 · 81 ratings

Learn to make a crochet sunflower coaster with this easy step-by-step pattern, complete with abbreviations, photos, and blocking tips for every skill level.

Crochet Coastercrochet sunflower coaster

PREP TIME10 min

Work Time50 min

TOTAL TIME60 min

Yield1 coaster

DifficultyMedium

Costapprox. $5

Materials

• Materials & Tools
• Brown cotton yarn – small amount, about golf-ball size
• Yellow cotton yarn – small amount, slightly more than the brown
• 4.0 mm crochet hook
• Yarn needle
• Scissors

Steps

1

Make the Center Ring

Make a magic ring in brown yarn, chain 1, and work 12 single crochet into the ring. Pull the tail to close, then join with a slip stitch to the first sc for 12 stitches.

2

Enlarge the Center

Chain 2 and work 2 dc in each stitch around, joining with a slip stitch to the top of the chain 2. This brings you to 24 dc, and the circle should lie flat.

3

Set Up the Petal Loops

Join yellow yarn in the back loop only of any stitch. Work *sl st in next st, ch 5, skip 1 st* around, then join to the first sl st for 12 evenly spaced chain-5 loops.

4

Crochet One Petal

Into a chain-5 loop work sc, hdc, 3 dc, picot (ch 2, sl st in first ch), 3 dc, hdc, sc to form one pointed petal.

5

Repeat Around

Repeat the petal sequence in each remaining chain-5 loop for 12 petals total. Fasten off and weave the final join into the back seam.

6

Finish and Block

Weave in all ends, then lightly steam or wet block the coaster. Shape each petal flat and let it dry completely before use.

Hi! I'm Wren

Hi, I'm Wren — welcome to my cozy corner of the internet! I'm Wren Halloway: crocheter, amigurumi enthusiast, recovering perfectionist, and the…

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Conclusion

This little sunflower coaster is one of those projects that looks far more impressive than it actually is to make, which is my favorite kind of pattern. Make a whole stack of them in an afternoon — they make lovely gifts, and Mochi has yet to find a coaster she doesn't try to nap on.

Happy stitching,

Wren