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Bowl Cozy Tutorial

This project requires all cotton fabric, all cotton quilt batting, and all cotton thread.

I would not call this a beginner project...  Maybe intermediate.  You need some sewing skills and experience.

Start with two squares of your desired fabric and two squares of all cotton batting.  

The squares all have to be the same size, but they can be any size.  

9" squares will fit a small bowl like a small Corelle soup bowl.  I used 11" squares for a large soup/cereal bowl like this stoneware bowl from Walmart.  15" squares work well for a pie dish or serving bowl.

Sew one piece of batting to one square of cotton in a big X from corner to corner.

I don't usually pin at this step, but you do you.

Do the same for the other square.

This is probably the trickiest part.  

You have to fold one square in half with the batting on the outside.  

Position the folded square with the fold closest to you.  

 

Now you have to draw a line to make a triangle on each folded corner.  

2" up the side edges and 2" in from the sides (along the fold) will accommodate most bowls.

The higher you go up the sides of your bowl, the deeper your cozy will be.  For a pie dish or shallow bowl, you only need to go up about an inch.  

Make a mark on one side 2" up from the fold, and a mark on the fold 2" in from the side.  Connect the two marks with a straight line.  There's your triangle.

Place a pin along the line you drew, and stitch.  Don't backstitch at this point.

Do the same on the other side. 

Personally, I made a bunch of cardstock triangle templates in various sizes,
depending on how deep the bowl is.  But you can just measure.  

Unfold the square with the stitched sides, and fold the other two edges together.  

Measure and mark two more lines at the other two corners just like the last step, and stitch them together.

When you unfold, you will have your basic bowl shape.  

Now is the time to inspect how deep and wide it is.  Put a bowl in it for size.    

If it's not deep enough, go back a step.  Take out the previous stitches and make a mark higher up the sides.  If it's too deep, make a lower mark.  

Then sew it again and recheck.

Once you have it the way you want it, go back and stitch the lines again, this time backstitching at the end of each line.  This makes a difference later on. 

Now do the same for the other piece of fabric and square of batting.

Now it's time to trim off the triangle corners on both pieces.

Turn one piece side right side down, and the other right side up. 

Fit them together with right sides touching.  

Adjust them until all the corners are lined up, then pin.

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Sew all along the pinned edges, leaving 1/2" seam allowance.  In the picture below, I make two black marks on one of the points about an inch from the highest and lowest points.  I start sewing clockwise at 1, go all the way around the other three sides, and stop at 2, backstitching at beginning and end.

Turn the cozy right side out using the open space.  Use a pencil or chopstick to make sure the corners are pushed all the way out.  

Fold in and pin the edges of the opening, and topstitch 1/2" all the way around the edge for more structure and a cleaner appearance.

I added a hanging loop, but that isn't necessary.  

These are machine washable and microwave safe as long as you used all cotton material, batting, and thread.

Hope this made sense!