Coffee Cozy

Coffee Cozy ~

I'll admit it, I am a creature of habit. I love my morning routine, from slipping on my fuzzy slippers to sipping my perfectly made organic French roast, French pressed coffee. Only thing is, my second cup gets a little tepid without something wrapped around the press to keep it warm. We have been using a tea towel, which does work, but recently I dreamed of making a lovely little cozy. I had some already felted wool sweaters for warmth, and of course to fancy it up a bit, I would add something a la Alabama Chanin. I adore the "Lovelace" stencil, and so I set off to create my sweet little coffee cozy.

I used a paper bag to create a pattern to fit my Bonjour 12-cup French press.  My initial measurements were a little different, but a final version of a 14" by 6" rectangle body and a 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" rectangle closure would be good.

I had a thickly felted sweater that worked nicely as an under layer; and my top layer was Alabama Chanin's medium weight organic cotton jersey in black.

I used my rotary cuter to true up the top and bottom layers. I then stenciled my Lovelace pattern onto the cotton jersey, using the Simply Spray fabric paint.

After the paint dried, I used these clips to secure the top and bottom layers together. It was easier than pinning them together since the felted wool was rather thick.

I stitched around each element and reverse appliqued the piece. I then whipstitched the entire perimeter. I left the tab plain wool, and topstitched it onto the body. I used adhesive velcro on the edge of the body and the tab. I took a few stitches at the edges to keep the Velcro from pulling up.

Here's the top view:

Here's the under view.

Here's a bit of a close up.

I like that this was created from scraps and bits that I already had on hand; and that the project was finished within a day. I think I'll make a couple more as gifts.