Introduction: How to Make a Tea Cozy With Hedgehog-in-a-Teacup Fabric

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What you’ll need:

• Fabric (Note: ordering this particular hedgehog fabric takes up to two weeks, so plan ahead!)

• Light yellow thread (or light blue if you’re using the fabric with the blue background)

• 1 package of light yellow or blue Double-Fold bias binding. Make sure it’s Double-Fold as opposed to Single-Fold; otherwise it won’t cover the bottom edge correctly. You can use a contrasting color instead if you like.

• Printer (to print the pattern)

• Pins

• Scissors

• Sewing machine — it’s much easier if you have one, but you can do it by hand too. I used the sewing machine and serger at TECH SHOP in San Francisco. TechShop is an amazing place with all sorts of equipment and machinery you can rent time on: metalworking, woodworking, textile arts, laser cutting and more. I've been a member since 2011. See http://www.nicolaginzler.com/category/my-creative-projects/ for other TechShop projects I've made.

There are just four steps:

1. Buy the materials

2. Cut out the pieces

3. Sew the main part together

4. Sew on the seam binding (the edging piece that goes around the bottom)

Step 1: Buying Your Fabric

Buy your hedgehog fabric:
        • Go to www.Spoonflower.com and order 1 yard of hedgehog-in-a-teacup fabric with a yellow or blue background.
        • The order will take up to two weeks to arrive – Spoonflower does print-on-demand rather than warehousing.

Buy your quilted insulating fabric:
        • Go to www.Voguefabrics.com and order 1 yard of ThermaFlec fabric.
        • The order will take about 1-1/2 weeks to arrive.

Buy matching thread and matching or contrasting Double-Fold bias binding.

Step 2: Download the Pattern

• Download the image of the "Left-Middle-Right" pattern (select the image, right-click and Save As.) Print out the image in pieces (use the "LEFT-MIDDLE-RIGHT" markings as a guide) so the tea cozy ends up 9-1/2" tall. Then tape the pieces together. Sorry this is a little complicated!

• Fold the hedgehog fabric in half lengthwise, making sure that the hedgehogs are matched up. (This may mean that you’re not folding down the exact middle of the fabric.)

• Pin the pattern on the fabric so that the hedgehogs line up as in the pattern. Make sure your hedgehogs are lined up straight at the bottom. Straight as in not-crooked; no-one cares if your hedgehogs are gay.

• Cut out two pieces carefully.

• Cut out two pieces of the quilted fabric, making sure that the quilting lines are vertical and matched up.

Step 3: Assemble the Tea Cozy

• Put one piece of the quilted fabric silver side down, then one piece of the hedgehog fabric side up. Sew ONLY around the less-curved bottom edge (this is to hold each set together). Repeat with the other two pieces of fabric.

• Then put one set of fabric quilted silver side down and the other set of fabric quilted silver side up, so the right sides of the hedgehog pieces are facing each other in the middle. Pin through all layers. Sew ONLY around the more-curved top edge (not across the less-curved bottom) through all layers with about a 3/8″ margin. I used a serger machine for this seam (the kind that creates an overcast stitch) but I don't have a photo.

• Trim the seam to 1/4".

• Turn inside out. It already looks like a tea cozy!

Step 4: Sew on the Seam Binding

• Measure all the way around the open end of the tea cozy and add 1/2″. Cut the binding to this length.

• Open out one side of the binding and line up the OUTSIDE of the edge of the fold with the OUTSIDE of the unfinished edge of the open end of the tea cozy, matching up the raw edges. Pin in place, leaving the extra 1/2″ free.

• Sew with about a 3/8″ margin from the edge, all the way around except for the extra 1/2″.

• Fold the binding to the inside with the edge folded in. Pin in place. Don’t sew yet!

• Fold in the end of the binding 1/4″ and overlap it over the other end. Pin in place, THEN sew.

• Here’s the last step! From the OUTSIDE, sew carefully RIGHT IN THE “DITCH” OF THE SEAM so the stitching catches the folded-over binding on the INSIDE.

That’s it! Because of the reflective coating and quilting of the lining, this tea cozy will keep your teapot warm for several hours, for realz.

Note: Hand-wash only; if you machine-wash the tea cozy, the reflective coating will come off and it will be less effective.