My family takes hot tea very seriously. It is a very communal process for us. Sharing a pot of tea is cozy, calming, and it is very nice quality time spent together. My husband’s sister is visiting for a few days, and we have already had many cups of tea together. So, when she requested that I make a tea cozy to fit her smaller tea pot at home, I was delighted to do so. She brought her larger tea cozy marked with a pin showing how much smaller the new tea cozy needs to be. We went fabric shopping in my stash, and after a failed first attempt (ahem, who gets it right on the first try?), I am happy to show off this lovely tea cozy.
Tea Cozy – Large on Left, Small on Right
Tea Cozy – Large on Left, Small on Right
I cut 4 pieces of fabric 11.25″ wide by 8.5″ tall. I then quilted each panel to a piece of batting. I trimmed each panel square after quilting, and then I added in a small cut at the top of each piece (I cut 1″ down from the edge to the center of a long edge). Then I sewed 2 panels right sides together with a quarter inch seam allowance. For the inner fabric (also quilted to batting for a nice double layer of insulation), I sewed a 3/8″ seam and then trimmed down to 1/4″ seam allowance. I flipped the slightly larger outer fabric right side out, pushed the two pieces together, and then slowly sewed a 1/4″ seam allowance around the raw edge to hold the two pieces of quilting together. I then machine bound the raw edge.
Tea Cozy
Tea Cozy
Tea Cozy – Quilting Detail
Theoretically, this tea cozy is reversible, but I love the outer fabric so much I can’t imagine wanting to flip it inside out!
Tea Cozy – Fabric and Quilting Detail
Tea Cozy – Fabric and Quilting Detail
Once I figured out how to make the tea cozy, it took around an hour to quilt and assemble.
My first attempt consisted of not pre-quilting the fabrics to the batting prior to assembly and it did not turn out very well at all. There was lots of puckering when I quilted the lower edge and added the binding. Pre-quilting the pieces was definitely the way to go for this project!
Looks great! I love the idea of tea, but then life gets in the way when I want to actually sit and enjoy a pot!
Love this!!!
I really like that outer fabric too…..so cute!
Looks so cute!
very cute! I am a big fan of tea made in a tea pot too 🙂
And for the next one you might consider learning to knit (if you do not already know) and getting a copy of one of Loani Prior’s lovely books of quirky tea cosy patterns. 🙂
We’re big tea drinkers and don’t have a tea cosy! Definitely need to do something about that! Love that you went shopping for tea cosy fabric!
Fun fabric! Great colors! I hope you enjoyed your Bday! Little late but Happy Bday Yvonne!
I made a tea cozy for my mom years ago–it was one of my first quilty projects. I haven’t made one since! Glad you got it figured out, it turned out cute!
I agree the outside colors are awesome!!!
That fabric is awesome. I like the pattern remind me of the ferris wheel at night. It could cozy up to my tea anytime!