Thursday, January 31

oh she of little time...

time is not on my side today, it could have something to do with the fact that i have decided i can no longer live with the 'yellow' walls in the hallway and kitchen. i have nothing against the color 'yellow' but when it is a 'cold' insipid yellow coupled with dark brown kitchen cabinets and dark mottled blacky sludge granite worktops enough is enough...

so i shall just jump right in and give you today's post...if you have a 'blah' teacosy hanging around and have been telling yourself for a while that it is really letting the side down when you have unexpected visitors drop by for a spot of tea, then pay special attention.

my little teacosy was purchased last summer in the UK from the fabulous woolworths, at the time i felt the polka dots were perfect, but on my return i have since decided otherwise...i believe it not the 'dots' that bother me but the pale wishy washy pink, that's what you get for purchasing a cheap 'knock off' version of our Cath...so two days ago, i put one hour, yes dear readers just one hour aside and decided to fix my 'tea cosy' issue...

so here it is in pictures

take one 'blah' tea cosy of your choice and a piece of your favorite fabric or maybe a small remanant of your absolute 'all time' besty 'vintage find' that you can't bear the thought of not seeing everyday (i think i am getting a little carried away, it could be the five hours of paint fumes getting to me)

using 'blah' cosy as a template cut out a front and back allowing for seams



add some decoration with odds and ends of lace etc


put right sides together and machine stitch across the top (i know this is obvious but i'll say it anyway, don't stitch up the bottom where the teapot goes in)

turn 'cosy' right sides out and press with iron, then slip in 'old blah' teacosy snuggly into it's 'new lovely' cover

to secure the cover to your teacosy you must turn under the raw edge and pin some bias binding to hide the fraying edges and keep everything 'in place'...this was my chance to use my 'japanese craft book' bias binding that i made way back when , yipee...

once all pinned you must sit down with a cup of tea and start handstitching...go on, it's good not to use the machine every now and then...


and there you have it, no longer do you need to hide behind your curtains when the door bell rings for fear of having to produce a pot of tea warmed by a 'blah' tea cosy...


on the other hand if this all seems a little too much effort and you just wish to own a fabulous tea cosy without any of the 'blood' (hand sewing don't forget), 'sweat' (drinking tea always makes me heat up a bit) and 'tears' (having to look at 'blah' tea cosy too closely) then take a look over here...probably the best teacosy i have managed to track down in a long time...

she's apologizing for the 'madness' of the post but it was done in under 20 minutes which is an all time record, plus the use of 'flash' photography (sssh, i didn't really say that)...see you monday, as tomorrow she is away thrifting...oh happy days ~ Tif

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE AMAZING, EVERYTHING YOU LAY YOUR HANDS ON, COMES OUT BEAUTIFUL, OOPS SORRY FOR THE CAPS!

p.s., love you new home!


Lily

dottie angel said...

oooh lily, you are making me blush...

Francesca said...

lovely fabric. it's all so dottie angel. you have such a recognizable style. and lily is right...you make it all look so easy. have a lovely weekend. oh, and can we see the painted hall/kitchen next week please?

Rubyred said...

Sending you tea cozy love,I just love it!.Much nicer than Cath's I think.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link Tif!
Love your teacosy by the way. I have held the knock off Cath's in Woolies mnay many times, but something always stops me buying them... how do you get so much lace and pretty fabric past your men folk- mine complain like mad about anything remotely nice!

Gigibird said...

Lily is right everything you touch recieves the Dottie Angel magic and your tea cosy is no exception.
I too have considered making a tea cosy but my only problem I very rarely make tea ina pot these days.
Visitors to Chez Gigibird only arrive in the ones and twos....
anyway, stop enjoying yourself and get painting!

dottie angel said...

i am up early today (the excitement of a day out thrifing with friends)...thank you for your kind words, as to getting lace and pretty things past the men folk, i was just thinking that very thought myself yesterday...with my studio the first place you see as you enter the shed, everyone is faced with lace, pretties and ladies underwear, the minute they step through the door. as my friend Beth said the other day "does anyone else live at mossy shed with you Tif"...she has a point and i must give the 'star wars' figures my man collects a 'look in'...i have an understairs cupboard available ;)

have a lovely weekend all :)

kat said...

you can come paint my house, & stitch me a tea cozy any time! beautiful!!

gayle said...

Love the tea cosy. It is just so pretty.

Little Miss Flossy said...

Oh now that's about the best and most beautiful tea cosy I've ever sen, I LOVE it! It might just about convince me that I need to take up tea drinking...

Anonymous said...

What a lovely tutorial, Tif!! :) I think its a brilliant idea to revamp a tea cozy like that... shall keep this in the back of my mind for future reference... ;)

Have a lovely weekend!

Tracy x said...

love the tea cosy x
but my heart is won over completely by the S&P pots......
ack - why can i not find such sweethearts over here???
i know, i know - we have Cadbury's spread - but after seeing s&p the spread is just not enough
boo hoo
t x

Suzie Sews At DOTTY RED said...

Well you know I have the blah one in blue and I kind of like it...I admit it sits amongst some Cath kidston stuff too, which helps...saying all that I would glady bin it for your design...
Lovely...

cd&m said...

That really is a splendid tea cosy now, the fabric is just great, love it.

Jane said...

Oh this reminds me of those 1950's vogue drawings of girls in teafrocks drinking tea at wrought iron tables on balconies,
J
x

Cheryl Miller said...

Absolutely beautiful! I have been thinking about doing tea cozys for awhile now. I know just the piece of perfect vintage-y fabric I'll use! Thanks!
Cheryl

Monica said...

Oh you and your awesome ideas!! That tea cozy is so cute!

Darly Dolittle said...

WoW! Great stuff. Your blog is so much fun to browse. Thanks for sharing.
Darly

Unknown said...

This is really a fabulous idea and your tea cozy is so beautiful!