🎥 Video Tutorial: How to Sew Bowl and Plate Cozies with Pre-Cut Batting

I’m a big fan of quick, simple and useful projects to sew for the home, gifts and just because they are pretty. Today’s tutorial is all 3.

I was so excited that my western fabric – Ride the Range – came out from Riley Blake Designs when we are all glued to western dramas on tv.

If you’re going to mosey over to the couch with dinner or a snack to watch your favorite western, won’t it be that much better if you have a plate or bowl cozy with the same theme? Of course it will!

The wonderful people at The Gypsy Quilter gave me some of their pre-cut batting to try and I’m IN LOVE! Of course I COULD cut my own (they have a template for that!) but sometimes I just want to cut down on the steps so I can get done. I always have more ideas than I have time so a few shortcuts are helpful.

In this video you will learn how easy it is to sew Bowl and Plate Cozies with The Gypsy Quilter pre-cut batting.

I demonstrate a plate but the big bowl cozy works the same way.

VIDEO SHORTCUTS:

00:00 introduction
01:48 Supplies
02:46 Prepare fabric
04:16 Sewing
04:41 Sewing the darts
05:58 Pin the two halves
07:14 Sew together
08:37 Press the plate cozy
10:08 Topstitch
10:29 Tip for stitching over darts
12:05 Finished photos

🛒 AMAZON LINKS TO PRODUCTS USED IN THIS VIDEO

TIPS TO AVOID BREAKING YOUR NEEDLE

I’ve had a microwave bowl cozy tutorial on my blog and YouTube channel for a while (where you cut your own batting) and the main question I get is about how to avoid breaking your needle. Those darts and corners get thick with 2 layers of batting and the fabric – especially when you get to topstitching.

🪡 TIP 1: Use a NEW NEEDLE

We (or at least I) often don’t think about just how many times a sewing machine needle goes up and down through fabric with each project we make. It makes sense that it will get dull over time – making it work that much harder with each stitch.

You want a nice SHARP needle to get through the thick spots on any kind of cozy so always start out with a fresh one.

🐢 TIP 2: Go SLOW

If you sew slower, you give the machine and needle a better chance at going straight up and down – through all the layers – and not bending and snapping.

🧵 TIP 3: Pivot at the Dart Seam

Stop and PIVOT at the dart seam. Trying to sew through the thickness at the darts when topstitching, and making a slight turn without stopping, is often a recipe for a broken needle. Stop with your needle down right at the dart seam. Lift the presser foot, slightly turn the fabric so you are lined up to go straight again.

But as Robert Burns wrote way back in 1785, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

That goes for sewists and needles too. Sometimes they just break – it happens to the best of us!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and give The Gypsy Quilter Pre-Cut Battings a try. If you do and post on social media, be sure to tag me – I love seeing the fabrics and combinations people use!

Happy Sewing!

🧵 Tara Reed