How to Make a Wool Tea Cozy

A good old-fashioned tea pot calls for a tea cozy.

A real tea drinker doesn't make cup after cup of tea with tea bags -- she makes pots of tea. Keeping your tea warm over heat can change the flavor of your perfectly brewed tea. Your grandmother probably had a tea cozy, sort of like a hat for your teapot. It can be made of any fabric, but wool helps to keep the tea hot longer. Make an elegant tea cozy with damask or toile, or a utilitarian cozy with wool felt and a cotton liner. Trim the tea cozy with ribbon, flowers or buttons.

Things You'll Need

• Paper for pattern, such as a sheet of newspaper
• Pencil
• Tape measure
• Scissors
• Felted wool fabric
• Lightweight cotton
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Iron and ironing board
• Needle and thread
• Trim

Instructions

1. Measure around your teapot at the widest point, usually from the tip of the spout around to the handle and back again. Divide the circumference by two and add 2 inches. This is the width of the tea cozy at the bottom. Measure from the table, over the top of your teapot and back down to the table again. Divide by two and add 3 inches. This will be the height of your tea cozy.

2. Draw a rectangle on paper, such as a sheet of newspaper, using the width and height measurements you calculated in the first step. Use a dinner plate or anything circular to draw a curve at the top of the tea-cozy pattern, inside the rectangle. Cut two pieces of paper this size and pin them together. Slip the paper pattern over the tea pot to make sure it fits. It should be a little taller and wider than necessary to allow for the hem and seam width.

3. Cut two pieces of wool fabric and two pieces of cotton lining with scissors. Cut out a strip of cotton or wool 1 1/2 inches wide and 4 inches long.

4. Fold the strip of fabric in half the long way to make the loop for the top and sew together the long edges. Turn it inside out and press. Fold in half to make a loop and pin the loop to the right side of one of the wool pieces of fabric, at the top, raw edges matching and loop hanging down toward the bottom of the piece. Lay the other piece of wool over the first, right sides together, so the loop is between the two. Sew the sides and top. Don't sew the bottom yet. Trim the curve, turn the cozy right side out and press.

5. Pin the two lining pieces right sides together. Sew the sides and top of the lining. Leave the bottom open. Trim the curve and turn the lining right side out to press with the iron. Turn the cozy wrong sides out again.

6. Fit the wool tea cozy and cotton lining together, with the right sides together. Sew the outside and lining together all around the bottom, leaving a space of about 2 inches open. Turn the tea cozy right side out. Fold in the raw edges of the opening and press it into place. Sew it closed with a needle and thread.

Tips & Warnings

• Decorate the tea cozy any way you like. Make felt flowers to glue on, or sew ribbon around the bottom. Sew buttons on as decoration or use fabric paint to paint on a design.

• Hand wash the tea cozy if you used wool fabric to avoid shrinking.

• The paper template, two pieces of the pattern cut out and pinned together, is important. It will help you make any necessary changes in the pattern before you cut your fabric, and avoid wasting your time and fabric on a cozy that doesn't fit.

References

• Acorn Pies: How to Make a Tea Cozy
• Rusty Bobbin Sews Tea Cozies

Resources

• "Tea Cozies 2"; Guild of Master Craftsmen; 2010