Thursday, April 17, 2008

Henny Penny Tea Cozy

A few months ago, my friend, Lisa found a really fun book called, Killer Tea Cosies: and how to make them, at our public library. Knowing how much I like all things tea, she was nice enough to share her find with me. I really enjoyed looking through this book and at its many unique tea cozies. One cozy, Henny Penny, really caught my eye and I knew right away I would make this for A.


A couple of years ago, my friend, A.'s husband (who we all love dearly) found a large oil painting of chicken that he really admired and wanted. So he came up with a great plan to buy the painting and give it to A. as a Christmas gift. Well needless to say, A. didn't necessarily want a LARGE chicken painting for Christmas; she had many other things on her list but none of them had anything to do with chickens. The chicken painting soon became the talk of the town and a big joke among friends, but it proudly hangs above their fireplace, and is quite the conversation piece.


Which brings me back to the Henny Penny tea cozy. I know A. didn't want or need more decorative chickens in her house but who could resist this one -- after all she is very cute, and functional, I might add. I just knew I had to make it for A.'s birthday and I hope she won't hold it against me. By the way, this year for Christmas, A. picked out her own Christmas gift, a bright, beautiful piece of artwork devoid of chickens.


Making Henny Penny proved to be a little more difficult that I had originally thought. The pattern had to be photocopied and enlarged, and it was hard to figure out how much fabric I would need. The instructions were vague and I wouldn't recommend attempting this if you're a novice sewer. I had problems understanding some of the directions and they kept using the term, wadding. I had no idea what the wadding was. I thought they were referring a part of the chicken and I even asked Keith what it was; he had no idea. I finally "googled" the term and found out that wadding meant, batting. Geesh! Anyway, I muddled my way through the instructions and was very happy with end results. I think it's definitely one of the cutest tea cozies I've ever seen!

4 comments:

Amy said...

A woman could do worse than having a big painting of a chicken hanging over her fireplace. At least its not a duck or (horrors) a goose.

cluck cluck Amy

Steph said...

I think Henny Penny is the just the thing! She's soooooo adorable!

Mad Queen said...

Darling! I wonder if the pattern was a foreign pattern... you know one that has been translated? I have ran into that a few times and have be truly baffled over words like "wadding"... I can totally relate! I did a Dorothy costume that to this day, makes me curse just to look at it... not worth the trouble and in the end I just ignored the pattern and did my own thing. Kudos to you for sticking to your project. It is SO cute! "A" is a lucky lady to have a friend like you. Happy days,

Tracey

GRANDMA R said...

Kim your tea pot cover is beautiful! You are doing great, if you can do this you can do anything! Dad said, "I know one thing we gave the sewing machine to the right person!" I can see why Amy loved it, it is darling. Thanks for sharing!
Love,
Mom