DIY EASY TEAPOT COZY - TEAPOT COVER | SEW WITH ME

Recently while I was brewing some tea, my son came into the kitchen to prep some food. He looked about for the towel that usually hangs on the oven handle, didn't see it there and grabbed for what he thought was a wadded up towel on the counter. Whoa! My tea and the tea bits went flying as he grabbed to rescue whatever was tangled up in the towel...my brewing tea. Whew...he caught it! I guess my cute little teapot needed a cozy in order to avert another such accident. I found a simple video showing the method for getting a measurement for my 3 cup pot along with a quick sewing method. Here was the video I watched for measurement and method ideas. Here is another good one with a slightly different assembly method.

Below is my finished Tea Cozy using the ideas gleaned from video #1. I thought about upcycling something like jeans material but as I reflected on my kitchen I decided to use the green and white fabric previously used for the curtain topper you see in the picture since I also have a table runner in that same fabric. In the end, finding a teapot fabric print in my stash I had to use it. Also a blue print used for the lining had been in my stash for a very long time and being able to use it pleased me so much! 

I used a piece of 9x12" paper folded in half , 6x9". Ultimately my pattern needed to be 8 3/4 x 5 1/4". On the 8 3/4 x 5 1/4" folded pattern round the right top corner using a small bowl for the curve shape. 

I opened the pattern fully, then using it, cut 2 main fabrics, 2 lining fabrics and two batting pieces. The top tab used to lift the teapot cozy was lining fabric cut in a rectangle approximately 3"x 1 1/2". 

Optional Tea Cozy Tab: 

Fold both edges of the narrow side to meet in the middle, then fold edges to meet. Stitch about 1/8th inch in on both edges.  (Optionally ribbon could be used.)

For Tea Cozy, layer lining-pretty side up, batting, main print -wrong side touching batting. Do this for both. Stitch the sandwiched layers along the straight side, repeat for second half circle layer. Open and press seam.

Match the 2 liner pieces, pretty side to pretty side being careful to match the center seam. (Leave a 3" opening which will be used to later.) Match the 2 outer pieces, pretty side to pretty side keeping the center seam carefully aligned. The tab (if used) should be placed ends in the seam and loop section carefully centered on the pretty side main print. Stitch all around then finally turn the tea cozy right side out. 

Whip stitch the opening along the lining opening. I selected to expose the lining about 3/8"and stitch in the ditch between the lining and the main print. 

As I was putting this together I pondered whether it might be nice to quilt the fabric first...h-mmm?In the end I decided to proceed without quilting but for another day here is a video I watched with quilting being her focus. Maybe on the next Teapot Cover 😉  

I think my cute teapot cozy needs something to complement it, what do you think? Here are some possible ideas, which would you select?

• Teacup Coasters 
• Rope Coil Teapot Trivet

I may need to try out several other tea cozy styles. My thoughts are on a more snuggly and cinched in style that kinda looked like this.

or this. 

• Teapot Snuggler 

Of course thinking about sewing possibilities leads me to see what others have done. I liked this potholder because it looked like it could snuggle my small teapot nicely.

Maybe you would like a way to carry your teabags in your purse or luggage. Here is an idea #1 for that. Here is another variation on this idea and yet another. 

I loved this idea for a set of items,  DIY Coaster Set, Tea Wallet, Reusable Tea Pouch.

Do you take your tea with you when you travel? Look at this clever project! 

Do you prefer watching youtube videos for inspiration or perhaps reading articles or blogs. 

As with so many ideas, this has led me toward many more ideas and

as you can guess, my day ended with a desire to try a few more of these ideas plus a cup of my favorite tea and a sugar cookie too!

Thanksgiving Trivet Time

 This year has gone by so quickly! My goal early in the year was to get familiar with the serger and incorporate it as I can. Sadly I haven't been able to find the standard serger foot for the Bernette 335 serger I purchased on Facebook Marketplace. It's original owner was using it for other purposes and no longer had that foot. Well it does sew...moving on.

I've been wanting to do some fun sewing projects I've seen on Youtube. This one seems sew (catch that play on words, ha-ha!) perfect. It is a fun mix of craft, sewing and function as well as using up this scraps that accumulate so-ooo fast! It is on Nancy's Notions channel. Remember Nancy?

I love Sewing With Nancy. Did you ever wonder what happened to her? This article on The Nancy's Notions Blog shares about Nancy's life, her program always inspired me. What wonderful content she shared in her lifetime. I'm so glad that her memory continues to live on! If you give this project a whirl please share yours, I'd love to see what you've done!

Gifts From The Earth

In my early twenties as I was raising a family, learning the ins and outs of providing for my family and stretching our paycheck I often relied on these principles...





Fix it up,  reuse it, make it from scratch and sometimes just do without. When it came to taking care of the health needs of our family I had a wonderful mentor, my mother-in-law Alice. She was a wise, creative woman who loved quality, enjoyed a simple Godly lifestyle and often made things herself. She taught me how to care for my family using her knowledge of herbs, massage and reflexology so even though we had no health insurance my family was healthy and cared for.  Just like my great aunt Nana, she was practical, believed in using the many gifts from the earth God gave us to take care of ourselves.

With today's amazing array of products you would think it would be simple to find personal care items that are healthy, safe and effective. Shopping and reviewing products with labels listing long ingredient lists of names we can't even pronounce can be daunting. It is common to buy a product we see advertised as the next great thing and try it out, often judging its effectiveness without taking in to account what else it might be doing. Have you ever given thought to how a product penetrates? I discovered that our skins natural proteins were being broken down to allow certain products to penetrate. If the body's natural defense barrier has been compromised the body becomes susceptible to infection etc. Learning about ingredients in personal care products that were harmful to us as well as environmentally unfriendly set me on a mission to find alternatives that would be healthy, effective, and improve my family's health not destroy it.

My personal quest over the years started in my kitchen as I tried my hand at making my own handmade bath soaks, hair rinses, facial treatments. Since I do not always have the time to create from scratch and frankly I do not always want to take the time, I was searching for a personal care line I would be confidant to use on my babies and grandbabies too. My criterion: free of known toxins, environmentally friendly, choice botanical ingredients, safe on a variety of skin types and would it be too much to hope that these products would, nourish with clean and safe formulas?