Mommy's Magaickal Tea Cozy!

My latest project I've completed was a spiffy tea cozy.  I've been meaning to make one for quite awhile, but just hadn't been able to find the right thing to embroider on it.  Then last week, Urban Threads had this silly gnome pattern as their freebie for the week:

It just made me giggle :)  Plus, I have a soft spot for gnomes.  It's rather long story that probably isn't appropriate for cyber space, but let's just say it involved a very entertaining evening in college and some margaritas.

& do you remember the pin I posted last Friday about crayon tinting for embroidery project?

<div style='padding-bottom: 2px; line-height: 0px'><a href='http://pinterest.com/pin/263460646923082935/' target='_blank'><img src='http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/550/c3/87/4f/c3874f0032dbd6858dbb392d36537e4e.jpg' border='0' width='300' height ='236'/></a></div><div style='float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;'><p style='font-size: 10px; color: #76838b;'>Source: <a style='text-decoration: underline; font-size: 10px; color: #76838b;' href='http://www.urbanthreads.com/tutorials.aspx?t=Crayon+Tinting'>urbanthreads.com</a> via <a style='text-decoration: underline; font-size: 10px; color: #76838b;' href='http://pinterest.com/ljz3535/' target='_blank'>Lisa</a> on <a style='text-decoration: underline; color: #76838b;' href='http://pinterest.com' target='_blank'>Pinterest</a></p></div>

What a better time to try it!  So I got out a piece of white fabric and traced the happy gnome pattern on to it with a pencil.  Then took out the old Crayolas and colored it in.  I even tried to do a little shading!

Super fun :)  Then I set my iron really hot, wedged the fabric between two sheets of paper, and ironed the bejeezes out of it.  Supposedly not the wax is set into the fabric.  It definitely doesn't flake off anymore.  Does anyone know if it would be washable?  

Next step was to embroider around the outlines.  Then I traced a circle around it and cut with my pinking shears.  I did two more circles in coordinating felt with the pinking shears and picked out some pretty felt flowers I had left over from another project.  

The actual tea cozy I stitched up out of quilted fabric and finished the bottom edge with hot pink bias tape.  The really tricky part of the whole project was figuring out what size to make the cozy.  I found somewhere (& of course, I didn't save the link) to measure the height and the width of your tea pot and add 1.5" to each measurement.  Miraculously, it worked!  

With the cozy together, I stitched the circles on, then hand-stitched the flowers.  I'm seriously in love with the final project!

Now my tea will stay magickally warm and cozy all morning!