Christmas Countdown #5: NaNee Hand Embroidery

I adore this sweet Cozy Sweater pattern in NaNee Hand Embroidery's shop. It looks just perfect stitched on natural linen, doesn't it? And the nice traditional Christmas reds and greens are wonderful.

Tutorial Tuesday

Hi there! Bobbypin Bandit (a.k.a. Kristen) here. I am very excited to be joining the Feeling Stitchy crew in bringing some fun tutorials to share with you all. I love to embroider, but often find myself searching for what to do with the finished item once it's been stitched. I am here to share some ideas with you about what I do with the things I embroider, because even though the throw pillows and wall hangings are fantastic, it's always nice to mix things up a bit.

This week, I decided to share a quick and easy tutorial for a coffee press cozy (or is it coozie?). Either way, it helps keep the coffee warm while it's in a coffee press.

I used a few different patterns from Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To book and put it on this panel of fabric a while back and knew I wanted it to be a feature piece somewhere in my kitchen, but just didn't know what to turn it into. One day, when I was particularly bummed that my coffee hadn't stayed warm long enough, I decided it should become a coffee press cozy.

One of my friends taught me how to make a reusable coffee sleeve for cups from a coffee shop so we decrease the use of cardboard sleeves. I used the same process on a larger scale for the coffee press cozy. This will require the use of a sewing machine, but it's only to stitch the fabric together and add a finishing stitch along the outside.

If you are a serial crafter like me, you might already have these things in your supply closet, but if not, here's what you need to get started:
-Embroidered panel of your choice, 1 back panel, 1 piece of batting, and 2 pieces of heat resistant fabric cut to 15 x 5.5 inches
- 1/8" braided Elastic cut into two 6 inch long pieces
-Two buttons
-Thread in color of your choice
Note: Heat resistant fabric is also called ironing board fabric. You can eliminate the heat resistant fabric if you have interfacing/batting intended specifically for lunchboxes or potholders.

Step 1: Cut all the fabric and batting, if you haven't already, to 15 by 5.5 inches.

Step 2: Begin layering the fabric so that you can run it through the sewing machine. Start with a piece of the heat resistant fabric, then place the main panel face up. Fold the pieces of elastic in half and place them on one shorter end of the cozy. I placed them 2 inches away from the top and bottom. Continue layering the fabric over this with the back panel face down, a piece of heat resistant fabric, and the batting.

Step 3: Stitch around the entire piece and through each layer, making sure to leave an opening around 2 inches big, so you can flip it. I used a 1/4" seam allowance, although, my batting got a little crooked as I stitched it. Clip the corners and flip.

Step 4: After you flip the entire piece, stitch along the edge. This will seal the opening that you used to flip it.

Step 5: Place your buttons on the side opposite to that of the elastic. Stitch them in place.

Step 6: Wrap your coffee press and enjoy warm coffee for a bit longer.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It's pretty quick to put together and really does help keep the coffee warm.

Happy coffee time!