Way back in 2011 I made and sold at least 100 of these. Would you believe I didn't make any for myself? I kept saying I would make us a set but, you know how it is. So what are they? Looking at the picture below it looks like a crazy hat or an out of whack ugly Christmas tree.
If you guessed bowl cozies, you are correct. I'm sure most of you have seen these but for those of you who haven't, a bowl cozy is used in the microwave. The cozy is basically on oven mitt for your bowl. You place your bowl of food in the cozy, then place it in the microwave and warm it up as normal. No more burnt fingers. The fabric, thread and batting must be 100% cotton or your cozy will catch fire in the microwave. Cooking for longer than four minutes can also cause a fire. So, if hubby is not on board with your idea for a kitchen remodel you now have an options(wink, wink).
The fabric used for my cozies is 100% cheap quilting cotton from Walmart. There's no way I would make these from designer fabric. The cheaper the better. These will see a lot of use and Mr. Podunk can be messy when it comes to using the microwave. He can't or won't remember to cover his dish in the microwave. Something is always exploding and making a big mess. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact. If he is using the microwave I'm happy because it means I'm not cooking...HAHA! By this time next year, there's no doubt they will be stained and in need of replacing.
If you would like to make your own bowl cozies just do a Google search for bowl cozy tutorials. Hundreds of them will pop up as written tutorials or video tutorials. Word of warning...your batting should be cut 1/2 inch smaller than the fabric. I forgot this very important detail when making mine. And the video tutorial I watched as a refresher course, did not cut them smaller. It reduces the bulk of the batting which is helpful when trying to do the finish stitch around the edge. Not even a blue jean needle (100/16) could manage the multiple layers of batting and fabric. Luckily I found these leather needles on Amazon. They struggled to penetrate through all the layers but they did it as long as I sewed very s-l-o-w-l-y.
There's also tutorials out there that tell you how to measure your bowl to make the perfect size cozy. I didn't do that. I made a decision to use a 10 inch square of fabric and take my chances.
I'm calling it a success. They fit all the bowls in our cupboard except for my favorite bowl. Looks like I'll be making a couple more larger bowl cozies. Let's hope it doesn't take another 10-12 years.
Until next time...
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
Pin It
I make a lot of these, for gifts and also to sell in our local shop. Easy to make, and so useful.
ReplyDelete