Hello friends! Stephanie from Stephie B’s Designs is here again today to walk you through how to make a soup bowl cozy (that can be a great last-minute Christmas gift this time of year!)
Learn How to Make a Soup Bowl Cozy
Sounds fun, right?! You can easily whip a few of these soup cozy’s up and send them to your friends, or of course, keep them for yourself.
I didn’t realize that Arizona was going to be as chilly as it is in the winter, so I find myself preparing soups, stews, chilies, curries, and other warm comfort foods several times a week. Inevitably we have leftovers, so find ourselves heating up our bowls in the microwave all the time… and subsequently burning our poor hands as we hungrily try to take the bowl out too soon. OUCH!
These cozies are the perfect solution for that!
Plus, you can use them while you’re eating your meal right off the stove or out of the slow cooker! AND, they can even be used to hold your cold bowl of ice cream in the summer!
So… lets dive on in!
Gather the Soup Cozy Materials
For each cozy, you’ll need:
- Two 10″ squares of 100% cotton fabric, such as quilting cotton (remember, these will go in the microwave, so you must use 100% cotton – avoid fabric metallic accents as well)
- Two 10″ squares of microwaveable 100% cotton batting – I used Pellon Wrap-N-Zap Cotton Quilt Batting
- An air- or water- soluble ink marking pen
- Ruler
- Scissors, pins, 100% cotton thread
I’m making two cozies today, which is why I have four fabric squares.
Assemble Your Soup Cozy
Soup Cozy Step 1: Pin one square of batting to the wrong side of one square of fabric.
Look! It’s the awesome Magnetic Pin Cushion I taught you how to make a little while back!
Soup Cozy Step 2: On the backside of the batting, draw a line diagonally across the square from one corner to the other. Repeat with the other two corners, creating an “X” in the square.
Soup Cozy Step 3: Repeat with the second square.
Soup Cozy Step 4: Sew a straight stitch along the marked lines of both squares.
Soup Cozy Step 5: Fold one square in half, batting side out. Mark a dot 1″ away from the fold and 2″ down from the top and draw a line between them.
As a reference point, in the first image below, the tip of my pen is closest to the folded edge.
Repeat with the bottom corner of that square. I recommend pinning to hold the fabric in place.
Your square should look like mine does in the image below.
Soup Cozy Step 6: Sew along the marked lines on both squares, then trim seam allowance to 1/8″ (or as close as you can get it without compromising the seam – bulk is not your friend in this project).
Soup Cozy Step 7: Repeat with the second square.
Soup Cozy Step 8: Fold each square in half in the opposite direction, and repeat steps 5-7, marking, then sewing, then trimming the corner of each square.
It gets a kinda tricky here with the first two corners already sewn – the square won’t lay flat – so I recommend pinning along the fold (as shown in the first two images below) before you mark so the fabric stays in place as you draw your line.
Soup Cozy Step 9: Unfold your squares. You should have two pieces that look like mine in the image below.
Soup Cozy Step 10: Turn one batting face up. Pin the two pieces right sides together, matching the seams.
I find it easier to match the corners together and pin, then pin along the trimmed seams. But that’s just me!
Soup Cozy Step 11: Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, sew the two pieces together, leaving a 2″-3″ opening to turn the cozy right side out.
Soup Cozy Step 12: Trim the seam allowance and corners to remove excess bulk.
(For some reason I took the picture above before I clipped off the corners, so pretend you don’t see them there!)
Soup Cozy Step 13: Turn the bowl right side out through the opening. Push out corners with a point turner, chop sticks, scissors, or whatever tool you prefer.
Soup Cozy Step 14: Now is a good time to press your cozy. It will get super wrinkly during the turning out process, so spend some time making it look lovely again.
Recognize this ironing board? It’s the one I showed you how to make in How to Make a TV Tray Ironing Board!
Soup Cozy Step 15: Topstitch or hand sew the opening shut.
Soup Cozy Step 16: Topstitch around the edges of the cozy using 1/4″ seam allowance.
And there you have it!!! There were a lot of steps, but I think you’ll agree that they went pretty quickly.
Time to go test my new cozy out… I have some leftover Chicken Korma calling my name!
Some quick important notes.
- You can place your bowl directly onto the table after removing it from the microwave.
- Microwave in 2-minute intervals for no longer than 8 minutes total.
- They are not designed for long-term heating.
- These are machine washable and can be thrown in with your normal wash when needed.
Thank you for stopping by my little tutorial on how to make a soup bowl cozy and hopefully becoming inspired to make your own soup bowl cozy. These are such handy little things, and once you have one, you’ll wonder what you ever did without them!
Before you leave, make sure to join our Facebook Group. Also, please come back again for more How-Tos, and while you’re here, browse through some of the other amazing blogs. There is so much to learn, and this is a great place to do it. 🙂 You might like some of these posts:
6 Responses
Hi Stephanie, I found your article on bowl cozys very interesting. I have made a few with the two pieces of batting but find it very heavy to sew and turn. Sooo, I made one with only one piece and it is beautiful. But is there enough insulation to heat and stay hot? I have used Wrap and Zap and it seems thicker than I remembered? I would appreciate any info or suggestions. Many thanks, Pat
I have done them with only one side having the wrap and zap on them. Works fine!
I have been making these bowl cozies for years and they are a much requested gift item! An alternative to the square corners is to trim the round using a small bowl, plate or large mug as a template. They look lovely and either are extremely functional.
Were still using the original couple I made, great for hot or cold items
Thanks for the tip, Wendy! I love suggestions – I am always learning so welcome everyone’s little tricks. I hope to be using mine for years to come, as well. They’ve proven useful so many times I can’t even count!
has anyone seen the cosies made with 5 points not 4? I’ve seen a picture but can’t find a pattern.
Hi Patricia, I haven’t seen a 5-point cozy, although I think that would be lovely. Please update us if you do find one! I’d love to make some as gifts. 🙂