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| My tea pot has a coat... |
Our summer ended abruptly around August 23 this year. This was after some really hot weather, so we were totally unprepared for and bummed out by the drastic dip to mostly single digit temperatures that occurred throughout the month of September, which also brought us at least two snow falls (I've forgotten if there was actually more than two).
As a result of our crazy cold start to the fall season, I began to make myself an afternoon pot of tea every other day. (I figured it was better for me than constantly going the coffee route.) But the problem with making a pot of tea on cooler days is that the tea sitting in the teapot also gets cool.
So... time for a tea cozy project!
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| Handle and spout are accessible... |
I looked closely at a few designs before settling on this one from Shabby Fabrics' YouTube channel (full link at bottom of post; that was also the source of my mini accordion pouch project last month). I appreciated the simplicity of it while also seeing where I could add my own custom touch.
How simple? Two pieces that look like this is all that's involved... they are joined together with a bit of stitching along the sides at the bottom.
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| An uncomplicated tea cozy... |
My custom touch? I added the grommets to thread the "ribbon" (leftover bias binding). The original was just tied around the middle.
The cozy is generously sized. My teapot is probably on the smaller side. When I decided to add the grommets, I centered them 5" down from the top.
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| Lots of room down there! |
The cozy finishes out at about 11.5" tall.
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| The body of the teapot fits snugly... |
This project requires binding around the perimeter of both pieces and I have to admit I did a poor job of it! I decided to go with 2" binding that I had already "drawn" onto a square of fabric and it was just a bit too narrow for this style of application.
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| My binding was just a bit too narrow for this style of application... |
Of course, after I finished it (poorly), I had to wonder why I didn't just attach the binding the way I did with my quilted hanging file organizer.
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| It does keep my tea warmer! |
It's like I was so busy following instructions that I didn't think to adjust them.
In any case, it's just a tea cozy, it's just for me and I am fine with how it looks and functions.
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| Fabrics are from Craftsy's Boundless collection.... |
My fabrics were from my Craftsy Boundless neutrals/gold stash builder bundle that I purchased earlier this year. The gold highlights give the finished cozy a nice sparkle.
The other three patterns for tea cozies that I briefly considered were eliminated for the following reasons: 1) while very unique looking, one required a lot of fabric, 2) another was a cover (like for a sewing machine) that had to be removed to serve the tea, and 3) the final one — while in an overall sense very much like this one — had to be custom fitted and required gathering and sewing a channel for the drawstring.
I'm all about efficiency when it comes to projects like this and this tea cozy by Shabby Fabrics totally fits the bill. Maybe you know someone who would like this for a Christmas gift? It won't take you long to make.
As promised, here are the links for this project: click here for the YouTube video, and here for the pattern download.
Enjoy your tea!
That certainly looks like it will keep your tea nice and hot. I am such a slow tea sipper that whether I make a small pot or use a tea bag, my tea is cold before I finish drinking it. When it's too hot, I burn my tongue every time! I guess getting tea to the proper temperature for me is a challenge!
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