Patchwork Tea Cozy

I love tea, but I’m usually the only one in the house that drinks it, so I got a tiny little teapot for me-tea. Problem was the teapot had a rooster on it... a little paint and some DIY spirit and in no time at all I had a pirate teapot! Yarr.

Thing is, my little teapot is kinda cheap, and doesn’t keep tea very hot for very long. Poor cold little teapot. My teapot needs a cozy, but not just any cozy, because a pirate teapot can’t go back to granny tea cozies. I might as well have left the rooster on there. So I’m on a mission to make an old-timey classic with a new punk edge. It’s sorta my thing...

I’m going to make myself a punk teapot cozy to go with my punk teapot, and keep my tea warm and toasty and cute. To make your punk tea cozy, you’ll need some quilted fabric (so it’ll actually keep your tea warm), some fun fabric for a little punk applique, some large safety pins, some small grommets (plus a grommet tool, and maybe a hammer) some fun punk buttons, cutaway stabilizer, and of course, a fun punk design. I’ve got the perfect one... I’ll get to that later.

First thing you need to do is measure your teapot. Most teapots are not as tiny as mine, so you probably won’t be able to use my measurements. 

Our little tea cozy is going to cover everything but a little bit of the spout (so you can still pour the tea with the cozy on) so our measurements are going to be a bit smaller than the whole teapot. Measure across from about mid-spout to the end of the handle, and from the bottom of the teapot to the top. Add an inch to each measurement.

Now we’re going to make ourselves a little paper template. Take your first measurement, and mark it across your paper, and take your second measurement and mark up.

Use these two measurements to mark yourself out a rectangle that encompasses the measurements of your teapot. Mark a line down the middle of your rectangle, and from there curve the edges on either side of the top of the rectangle, so you have a kind of half circle.

Cut out your template, and then to make sure it’s nice and even, fold it in half and re-trim the edge, so it’s perfectly even on both sides. Now your teapot template is ready to go!

Grab your quilted fabric and trace your template onto it. Now it’s time for some fun punk embellishment, featuring my favorite old-school-meets-new-school design.... Sinbonnet Sue!

Check her out. She’s so punk.

So, basically I just picked up some fun punky fabrics, and collaged it on in the oh-so-casual but actually carefully planned style (punks would like you to think their style is an “I don't give a darn” look, but honestly, how long would some of those mohawks take?). Lay them out in a fun pattern, leaving one fairly neutral space for your favorite punk design. Sinbonnet Sue is rocking it out in the middle of mine. Once you’re happy with your pieces, pin them in place.

Stitch your pieces on in a fun funky way. I love the zigzag stitch, it does the job but looks fun and handmade. For small little detail pieces like the heart, I was more careful with my applique stitches. I pinked bright pink thread to contrast with my fun fabrics. 

I know, I’m so hardcore.

Our stage is set for some fun embroidery. I like this “patchwork” look as a slightly different canvas for my design than just plain fabric.

Hoop up your fabric with some regular stabilizer (I kept my template in place until sewing so I would have perfect placement). Stitch out your punk-tastic design!

I like how Sinbonnet Sue kinda overlaps from one patch to another. It’s like she’s romping around in her own little world on there.

Cut out around your marked line, and then use your paper template to cut out one more quilted piece so we have two pieces for our tea cozy.

Pin your two pieces right side in (so your embroidery is hidden) Take a pin and mark a spot about 1/4 of the way around the curve, where your teapot spout is going to stick out. Start sewing a 1/4 inch seam from that point, around the curve to the edge, so one side of your teapot cozy is going to be left open.

Turn your tea cozy right side out, pushing out the curve. You should have one end that’s still open and raw.

Grab your pins and pin the raw edge in all the way around the opening. Sew a 1/4 inch seam around the edge, carefully going around the curved opening.

Finally, pin the raw edges of the bottom in, and sew a seam all the way around the bottom of your tea cozy, from one opening to another.

Now it’s time to make a little fastener for the spout part of the tea cozy. We want to be able to slip the cozy over the spout, so it remains open for pouring, but we need to keep the cozy snug on the pot, so we’re going to devise a little clasp, out of some classic punk accessories … grommets and safety pins!

Pinch your opening together below the spout, and mark the spot where you’d like to put two safety pin closures. I put one just below the spout, and one at the bottom. Mark this spot on both sides of your cozy.

Now grab some grommets! I love these things...

Cut a small hole where you’ve marked your fabric, and slip one half of the grommet (the one with the longer inside) through the hole. Place the backing on the grommet, and pound it closed with your grommet tool. Repeat this for all 4 grommet holes (two on either side).

Once your grommets are in place, slip your cozy over your tea, and secure it in place by slipping some safety pins in the grommets, pinning it shut.

Finally, as a last touch, I thought it would be nice to have a little “handle” or pull at the top of the cozy, so I found a fun semi-punk button, and stitched it into the top so I could pull the cozy off easily.

Check out our new hardcore tea cozy! It kinda looks a bit like a little punk elephant. Not intentional, but sorta cool nonetheless. 

Tartan, safety pins, and a general punk attitude give the typical tea cozy a whole new look. The design keeps your tea cozy and warm, but the open spout lets you pour your hot tea without having to remove the cozy, and the cute safety pin closures allow you to keep your cozy nice and snug to your pot in true punk style.

Now your tea stays tasty and warm and totally hardcore. I mean, if you’re going to have a hardcore teapot, you can’t allow yourself to have cold tea, and so you need an equally hardcore cozy. Cold tea isn’t hardcore. Iced tea, maybe, but room temperature tea, definitely not.

Rock on, you rebels you. There’s nothing quite like tea and crumpets and punk rock. Pinky up!