Crafty warmth
Nestling under the duvet on a chilly winter's night with a great book,
a mug of cocoa and a hot water bottle to toast your feet … Top textile
designer Lisa Stickley shows you how to keep snug
Things you need
Medium weight cotton (I have recycled an old soft cotton curtain) for
the main body, cut to size (see template below, where each square
represents 5cm x 5cm).
4oz polyester wadding, cut 2cm smaller than the main body all the way
round (see template – cut 1 front piece and 2 back pieces).
light weight fabric (cotton calico is ideal) for the lining, cut to
the size (see template – cut 1 front piece and 2 back pieces).
1m length of bias binding (2.5cm wide)
What to do
Bond the panels and wadding
Lay the front
outer fabric piece right side down on the ironing board. Lay the front
wadding piece on top and then the front lining piece on top of that,
rather like making a sandwich. With a hot iron, press the sandwich
pile so it flattens the wadding slightly and loosely bonds the three
layers together. Repeat for the two back pieces.
Add
the bias binding
Cut two lengths of bias
binding to slightly longer than the width of the back pieces. Fold
these pieces of bias binding in half lengthwise. Slot one binding
strip onto each of the straight edges of the back pieces. Pin in
place. Stitch the bias binding in place, trapping all three layers
neatly together. Backstitch at the start and finish to fasten the seam.
Join the panels
With right sides facing, lay the top back panel on to the front panel
so the top edges line up. Then lay the bottom back panel on top of
this so the two back panels overlap in the middle and the bottom edges
of the back and front panels line up. Pin in place through all the
layers. Starting at the bottom edge, stitch all the way with a 2cm
seam allowance. For extra strength, backstitch a couple of times when
sewing over the bound edges of the top and bottom back panels.
Backstitch at the start and finish to fasten the seam.
Fill the cover with the hottie
Turn the hot-water bottle cover right side out, pushing out all the
corners. boil the kettle, fill your hot-water bottle and slip it into
the cover.
Toasty!
• Made At Home by Lisa Stickley is published by Quadrille, priced
£16.99. Buy
a copy from the Guardian Book Store.
Crafty
warmth
