Recently, I have started drinking more tea. In an effort to be a little more healthy, I decided to reduce my coffee intake, and increase my herbal tea consumption. After pulling out my cute little tea pot, I realized that I needed a tea cosy for it. I figured I could just whip one up. I dug through my fabric stash, and pulled out a Here Comes the Sun layer cake from Benartex, which has been in my stash for a while. The bold colours, and sunflower print, would make a fun, cheerful cosy. This wound up being a quick and easy project, and would be great for beginners.
I chose not to use a pattern for this project. Instead, I opted to keep it simple, and cut up some 2.5” squares. I cut 48 squares, and then split them into two piles of 24 squares, one pile for the front, and one for the back.
To create the outer patchwork pieces, I arrange each pile of 24 squares into four rows of 6 squares. I then sew each row together into a strip of squares. Then I sew the four strips together to create a rectangle measuring approximately 8.5” by 12.5”. My teapot is small, only makes about 2 cups of tea, so I do not need a large tea cosy. To make a larger tea cosy, simply add more squares to make a bigger rectangle.
After creating my patchwork rectangles, I cut out two pieces of batting, therm fleece, and fabric for the lining with the same measurements as the patchwork pieces.
To insulate, and quilt, the cosy, I used one layer of cotton batting and a layer of therm fleece. It is important to place a piece of 100% cotton batting on the metallic side of the therm fleece to protect the cotton fabric. To make the cosy extra insulated, you can add an extra piece of 100% cotton batting for the fleece side of the therm fleece.
The quilting, like the design of the patchwork, I kept simple by sewing ¼” along the patchwork seams. I did not quilt the lining. The lining is sewn together, then tucked inside the cosy.
To get the rounded corners, I trimmed the corners diagonally on the top edge of each patchwork rectangle. I also trimmed the top corners of the lining pieces, so that the lining would also have the same shape.
With right sides facing in, the quilted patchwork pieces are sewn together. The front and back lining pieces also get sewn together, with right sides facing in. Once sewn, I turn the outer patchwork pieces right side out, and tuck the lining piece inside, trying to line up the side seams. You don't need to turn the lining right side out.
To finish the tea cosy, I added black binding around the bottom. This adds a nice trim, and attaches the lining to the outer patchwork.
This is a quick, easy project. I was able to whip this up in a day, and I love how it turned out. I plan to make more.