Vintage Roses Tea Cozy


On weekends I haven't been going out much, and I've paused my garment-knitting projects until after my pregnancy when I can see where my measurements land. Up until now, garments have been my go-to craft projects, so I've been branching out and seeing what non-personal-garment things I can make, like a tea cozy!



I've made baby booties for some other pregnant friends, and I attempted to crochet a baby sweater (twice) that didn't work out. So... this weekend I thought I'd try something new and make a tea cozy. I was inspired by the floral details on this 1937 tea cozy pattern.

I am not as good at crocheting as I am knitting, so this was a good project to help me recognize stitches, learn how they work together to make forms, etc.  I just used a variety of scrap yarns from my stash varying in weight and content (approximations listed below). I pulled colors from the Royal Albert Polka Rose tea set I have, and I think they work together quite well!

Sea foam yarn: craft yarn (the one pound skein)
White yarn: acrylic (?) sport yarn
Light pink yarn: acrylic baby yarn
Dusty rose yarn: fingering/lace weight wool yarn
Green: fingering/lace weight acrylic blend (?) yarn



A project like this is great for different scrap yarns because there isn't any gauge or measurement I had to fit with the flowers. They could be different sizes, and that actually made it all look better together.

For the body of the tea cozy, I looked at a lot of free vintage patterns online, but I couldn't really tell how big any of them would turn out... Although I'm not a cozy-making pro, so maybe I missed some info. I decided I'd give it a shot to just kind of make up my own pattern as I went along and just hold the project to my little teapot to gauge size. The body is all chain stitches, single and double crochet stitches; that's it!

As for flowers, I didn't know how to crochet flowers off the top of my head, so I used tutorials from these websites:

Big roses tutorial (I used a 3.5 mm hook)
Small white and pink flowers tutorial (initial chain stitch with a 5.5 mm hook, rest with 4.25 mm hook)
Green leaves tutorial (3.5 mm hook)
(I used a 4.25 mm hook with craft yarn for the cozy base.)

Basically, I made the base, then I made enough flowers to cram the top full of them. I just love how it looks like a little bouquet!



Now that I've finished this one... I obviously need to make one for my large teapot!  My husband laughed when I told him I just spent way more time making a tea cozy than one "should"... and then told him I'm not starting on a larger one, ha!  It is a labor-intensive project, but I've found it quite relaxing to do, and seeing it with my tea set makes me ridiculously happy every time.  That makes it worth it to me!

Have you made any cute tea cozies? (I'd love to see pics! Share links!) Do you have any good patterns you can recommend?

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5 comments

  1. Oh Em! This makes my heart all a flutter with happiness! It’s the ABSOLUTELY PERFECT little cozy for your china! And to think you “winged it” and basically created your own pattern!😮 I SO LOVE the lots of flowers on top...it’s just so darling! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽❤️💋🥰

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  2. Thanks so much, Aunt Paula!!! I’m getting better at understanding how crochet stitches work and go together, so that helps! (And I’m always ready to unravel and try again, ha!)

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  3. What a lovely little tea cosy, I love the way it matches your tea set. Well done! Here's a link to one of mine: http://ravel.me/vintagegranny/8rlf8

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  4. This is so adorable! I love it- and that it matches the teaset too!

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  5. Oh, I love this! I've crocheting for years, and yet I've never made a tea cozy. Now that I've seen yours I might have to make one!

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