Ecclesiastes 4:10-12
This Quilted Drawstring Tea Cozy keeps tea warm for a longer period of time. It fits snugly over the teapot while tea is poured.
The days are growing colder here in the Northern Hemisphere and soon the full force of winter will be upon us. Food and beverages grow cold very quickly in this cold weather. This is especially so in the mornings after the temperature has been lowered the night before for bedtime. Tea in a teapot cools in minutes and tepid tea is not my cup of tea.
Tea Warmer
There are two options I use to keep my pot of tea nice and warm. One is to place the teapot over a direct heat source from a tea light placed in a tea warmer. This works really well for different sizes of teapots and if you are sitting at the table having your tea. I would not recommend a tea warmer if you intend to bring your tea to a different room in a tray. This is where the quilted drawstring tea cozy wins over the tea light. They tend to be more portable and keeps the tea really warm.
Tea Cozies
There are several different types of tea cozies – quilted, knitted, or crocheted. The traditional cozy is usually dome shaped and is simply placed over the teapot. It has to be removed to get to the teapot.
Some years back, I came across this drawstring tea cozy that is not only pretty but absolutely practical. It fits snugly over the teapot and need not be removed for the tea to be poured. I was totally enamored.
Quilted Drawstring Tea Cozy
The construction is pretty simple and so I decided to make my own. I started with ready-made quilted fabric from the store but the designs were limited. I quickly moved on to using my fabric of choice, a layer of batting, and a plain backing fabric.
Later with more experience, I made fully reversible ones so that I now have two different designs for one cozy. It was so much fun and I had so many lovely fabrics to choose from.
The Drawstring
For the drawstring, I initially tried sewing a simple channel to thread the ribbon through. I also tried sewing button holes but this proved to be very time consuming. Finally, during one of my trips to the fabric store, I discovered this eyelet lace which allows a ribbon to be threaded through it. Perfect!
The lace came only in white but there were choices of a single sided (only the top) ruffles, double sided (top and bottom) ruffles, or no ruffles at all. I have used all three but my favorite is the single sided ruffles. Unfortunately, I have had trouble finding this eyelet lace of late. I may have to resort to something else as I only have sufficient for one more tea cozy.
Perfect Match
During my last trip to Japan, I chance upon this pair of tea cups. Talk about a “lucky” find! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them as they were the perfect match for my pair of tea cozies. I had to bring them home. 😀
Similar Products Seen in This Quilted Drawstring Tea Cozy Post
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2 Cup White Daisies on Blue Reversible Tea Pot Cozy
Field of Flowers 6 Cup Reversible Tea Pot Cozy
Autumn Leaves on Cream 6 Cup Reversible Tea Pot Cozy
Patriotic Print 6 Cup Reversible Tea Pot Cozy
Spode Blue Italian Tea Cosy
Beautiful Tea Cozies …. I am a true tea drinker, love to enjoy my tea with accessories .. Thanks for sharing….
Thanks Shama! Glad to hear you enjoy drinking tea. 🙂
Lovely! The pairing of the green and blue cups with the cosy patterns are just wonderful!
Thanks Haruna! I was delighted that the cups matched the cozies so well. 🙂
Wow! What a truly lucky find those teacups are! I love the blue one with vases, on the extreme left in the first picture. Also, the dark green one with pink (?) flowers as well as the teapot it is covering. Any chance of seeing the teapot too?
I had no idea you had so many in your collection!! I only have one, the one you gave me, which I love and use almost every afternoon. My boys love afternoon tea, but they are too burly to be dainty and delicate I suppose. They keep spilling the tea and have stained my lovely tea cosy 🙁 I tried to get the stain out but it’s still there, though faint. Now I put it on only after pouring out their cups of tea 😀
I am always on the lookout for fabrics and the blue one with the vases is an Asian design fabric which is pretty hard to come by. I should visit the fabric store in Malaysia or Singapore the next time I visit. The teapot in the dark green cozy is a James Sadler chintz teapot given to me by hubby for my birthday. It is my favorite teapot with a very pretty design and shape. I will share it one of these days. 🙂
I actually have quite a few more including some Christmas ones. I have also given away quite a few to close friends as gifts. Made them before my blogging days.
So glad to hear you are enjoying the one I gave you. Occasionally I will soak the cozies in a mild detergent and gently rub the stained area. It may not remove the stain totally but it should be faint after washing.
very cute tea cozies…. I try to make these pattern..
Thanks Rubina!
These are so cute, love that you made them. Great gift for a tea lover! I’ll have to try my hand at one. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks Denise! Yes, these tea cozies make lovely gifts. I used to make quite a few in my pre-blogging days. I also use them almost everyday in the winter as it keeps my tea nice and hot.
Biren,
Love your tea cozies and the fact that you used eyelet. I would never had thought of that. I bought a cozy for a friend for christmas and now we will use that one as our example and start making our own. I did find single sided eyelet. Here is the site.
http://www.mjtrim.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=eyelet+insertion+lace
Valerie
Love tea & your tea cosies! Would you share the pattern/measurements? I have a rooster tea cozy that is getting a bit worn as it is amost 30 yrs. old lol! Time for a new one!
I remember my Mom had a huge stuffed tea cozy made out of a burgundy velvety corduroy with a wood base & a zipper to close it – the tea stayed hot all day…if it lasted that long!
My cozies are all made to fit my teapots and are of different sizes. Some are fully reversible and some are one sided. It will be hard for me to draw them out and put the instructions together. Maybe someday when I have the time. 🙂
Yes, a cozy does keep the tea hot for quite a long time. I use mine almost everyday in the winter. Works better than a tea light.
These are just what I’ve been looking for. Are there patterns for these??
I enjoy having afternoon tea almost every day. Love your blogs.
Thanks Shirley for visiting and commenting. I am so glad to hear you enjoy both my blogs. 🙂
I made these cozies for my own use and they are made to fit each teapot. It did not come from a store bought pattern.
Your tea cozies are fabulous. I’m trying to make my own after being inspired by you. Do you put the eyelet lace on both sides for the reversible ones? Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for the compliments, Shamin! Yes, the eyelet lace is placed on both sides of the reversible tea cozies.
Is there anyway I could obtain a generic pattern so I could try my hand at making a tea cozy? I usually have my 4 little granddaughters and their mom’s over for a tea party every summer, and the tea gets cold quickly when sitting in the shade.
Also, I love your site. I was just very lucky to find it.
Thanks Barb for the kind words. I am glad you found my blog. 🙂
At the moment, I have not seen a tea cozy paper pattern out there. I wonder if the fabric, specialty kitchen, or even tea stores may carry them.
I love the tea cosies and I have looked everywhere for a pattern. Do you know where I could find the pattern to make these for myself.
Kim
I am not sure where you can find the pattern. Try checking at Joanne Fabrics and the likes.
Hello Biren,
Love you teacosies. I understand that there are no patterns for the drawstring cosies, can you please give some pointers as to how you constructed it.
Thank You
Biren, I just love the look of your tea cozy. Do you start with squares, rectangles or circles. I also can’t find anyone who sells a pattern. So I just need some advice on where to start. It would help a great deal. Do you measure your tea and create the appropriate size? Please help with a some kind of starting point.
I am looking for this pattern for a long time and cant find it. Is there a possability that you can send me the pattern? I dont kow if you work with cicles or squares. I just need a basic pattern, please.
Let me know.
Do u have this pattern for sale?as I am a rookie and would love to make a few of these..thx so much:)
oops sorry I didn’t read other comments lol..never mind lol
What did you use for a pattern? Did you start with a circle or rectangle?
Lovely Tea Cozies story and photos!! Thank You!! I see/read so many wanting a pattern and I’m going to take a guess that it’s a long rectangular shape attached at one long side where the spout comes through (attached in two places there – above and below spout) and the other side left free where the ribbon will help tie it up together where the handle comes out. Your photos helped me to take a guess. Nowadays they have quilted/unqulited thermal material at local fabric stores like Joann’s…the kind you can make oven mitts with or quilted fabric cases to keep warm casserole dishes for transport. I would take some tissue paper, the gift wrapping kind and make a rough pattern from that to see how the rectangle would fit around as well as the amount of ‘ruffle’ I can have. This way, even the bottom of the teapot is covered and I think the tissue paper will help on the fit as well as what the ‘pattern shape’ might be tweaked to. Then this is probably how to ‘customize on size depending on which teapot needs a cozy cozie. This is a ‘guess’ as to one way of many in making a pattern for tea cozie, but Thank You one of your photos gave me this inspiration — this is the way I’m going to try 🙂 New to ‘tea’ but had helped out at a local function of a Mother’s Daughter Tea and the feedback was that the tea was cold…maybe a cozie needed?!? 😉 THANK YOU!!!!
You are welcome, Regina. I made my cozies without a pattern. Like you, I improvised after seeing one at a kitchen store. In my version, both sides are “free”. The two pieces that cover the pot are attached to the base and secured at the top with the ribbon. Quilted fabric is the way to go. My first ones were made with quilted fabric. 🙂
Thank you Ladies. . I happened upon your page Linda while looking for inspiration and pattern for making a material Tea Cosy. Thank you so much for your pointers. . Beautiful ?
You are welcome, Michelle! I am sure yours would turn out beautiful. 🙂