Tea Cozy Project

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO WORK WITH?

Start by rounding up all of the teapots, fabric and insulating materials that you've got. In this case an old and badly mended bath towel will disappear inside a to help keep things warm. 

Next will come your design decisions like which teapot is the right size for the bits of fabric that you have. In my case I'm trying to use the medallion is that dark blue fabric. 

The blue and white is the outside fabric. The old towel is in the middle and the yellow fabric is the inside lining. Think of it as sliding one bag inside another and then sealing them shut.

It's nearly finished now, I'm just doing a bit of quilting to neaten it up and keep all of the layers together.

  I would have liked it better if both of the outside pieces had been the same but the fabric sample just wasn't a big enough piece to do that with.

Here's what the lining looks like. It could be reversible unless you've made the inside pieces smaller.

I made each of the inside layers a bit smaller so that it would fit the teapot better.

The second tea cozy went together much easier. I sewed the outside and the lining together and then the lining on it's own and had cut it a bit longer so that I could fold it up over the front and make a binding out of it. 

You'll notice that I've made them different shapes and sizes to fit different teapots. The better that you fit them, the better job they will do of keeping things hot.

I'm pleased with the results so far and will make one more in patchwork of the scraps from the first 2. No matter how many of them are used at the same time, The colors are similar and they'll all look nice together. When I do a party, I make one pot black, one green and one tisane.

Recycle and Reuse Fabric Samples

 If you're lucky enough to be able to get some fabric samples from people or shops that do drapery or upholstery there are a lot of things you can do with them.

It sometimes helps to let them know what sorts of things that you need or want to make. Fabrics are discontinued all of the time and this stuff has to go somewhere. Anyone that really likes to sew or hates to see things go to waste is your best bet for someone who will help you with this.

Don't be discouraged if you have to ask around a lot before you find some that you can get. I haven't tried the internet for this but it may be a resource too.

My first step is always to sort them out with the projects that I need to make in mind.

The turquoise and white ones on the top of the chair will be cut up and made into a patchwork panel that I will use to make a pair of valences for my dining room and the blue and white fabrics on the right side of this photo will be made into a pair of tea cozies to go with my Blue and white china. after that I'll be making an assortment of throw pillows and tote bags and of course if there's any fabric left after that I'll think of something to make with that too.