Thursday 1 October 2015

Hug a Hottie!

It's starting to get chilly in the evenings, and soon people will be needing hot water bottles at night. (Well, those who aren't menopausal will!)

So tomorrow evening I'm teaching a class at Chertsey museum making a hot water bottle cover, or for those who are menopausal, an iPad/tablet cover!

The trouble with teaching these things is that I get to the night before and realise I've never actually made of of them, so I'd better have a go!

So - the result


And the method:

Draw around the hottie / tablet, and add an inch all round.


Cut out this pattern piece, and cut out ONE piece of fabric (I used fleece, with its stretch top to bottom). This is the back piece

Draw a line on the pattern piece about 3 inches down from the 'shoulders' (or a tablet's top) and another a further 3 inches down.  

 You can, of course, use boring scissors but I'm loving my new paper scissors!


 I have shaded the two sections, but they don't need to be, you just need to understand that you are cutting one piece which is the top section and the middle / shared (ie shown orange) and another which is the bottom section and the middle / shared section (shown blue).

Fold the pattern piece to allow you to cut the fabric pieces without cutting the pattern.  You can decorate the pieces, or quilt a prettier piece onto them, or leave them as they are.

Hem the bottom of the top piece - if you have used fleece just a single fold is sufficient.

Layer the pieces: bottom piece, right side up,. Then the hemmed top piece, right side down, then the bottom piece, right side down.

Stitch ALL the way round, about 1cm seam allowance.
Clip the curves:

convex curves need wedges snipped out,


acute angles need to be snipped in,

and obtuse angles need to be trimmed

Then turn the whole lot inside out, shove your hottie inside, and hug yourself warm!


7 comments:

  1. I'd be rubbish as a teacher because I'd leave it for the night before or afternoon of. My friend who is a 4-H sewing teacher despairs of me. She would have the project organized into a spiral notebook for everyone, fabric cut, thread assigned, etc.

    Good job putting the directions into your blog notebook.

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  2. I am already using 2 bottles at night! very clear tutorial thanks for sharing,

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  3. I might just make one, thanks for the great instructions. I love the scissors!

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  4. Hmmm...not something we use anymore here in the states. I remember my grandma having one, but haven't seen one for a very long time. I have an electric blanket that I ues to keep warm at night. Really like the cover though.

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  5. Clever idea - thanks for sharing! And those menopausal ... may have younger recipients available ;-))

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  6. Even being menopausal I still love my hottie. Great tute.

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