Have you ever gone to grab a bowl out of the microwave after heating some food and jumped back with an “Ouch!” when your fingers touched the hot bowl?
No fun, right?
Quilters and crafters for years have been making the perfect remedy for this issue. It’s called the bowl cozy.
In this post, I will show you a super simple walkthrough of how to make a bowl cozy and offer several other microwave bowl cozy pattern options that are perfect for that hot bowl of soup.
What is Bowl Cozy?
A bowl cozy is a hot pad or pot holder shaped to fit perfectly around a bowl. To use them, you simply place your bowl full of the food you choose inside the cozy, then place the bowl cozy into the microwave and heat as desired.
Once the food is the temperature you want, you can easily pull it out using the built-in handle of the cozy without burning your fingers. You can also use them to hold a bowl that contains cold food like ice cream.
Do Bowl Cozies Need Two Layers of Batting?
Yes, and I’ll tell you why. When you heat food in the microwave, it can get scalding. Most home microwaves can reach 212° F (100° C.)
You want to use at least two layers of good-quality batting in your bowl cozy. If you only use one layer, you risk burning your hand and not insulating the bowl properly.
What Kind of Batting Do You Use for Bowl Cozy?
I cannot stress this enough. You MUST use 100% cotton batting if you plan on microwaving your soup bowl cozy. If you use any blend, you risk the batting catching on fire or melting while using the microwave.
You should use all 100% cotton materials, including your thread and fabric. Insulated batting is not an option because it contains metal which is a huge “NO!” for use in a microwave.
How Much Fabric Do I Need for a Bowl Cozy?
Most soup bowl holders only need two-10” squares of fabric to complete. To get these two-10” squares; you can use layer cake precuts, fat quarters, or yardage. Check the specific pattern you plan to use for particular fabric requirements.
How to Make a Bowl Cozy: A Super Simple Tutorial
Now that we know some of the gritty-gritty details about materials needed for a DIY bowl cozy, let’s jump into this quick and easy tutorial to make one.
This is a fantastic beginner sewing project, and I encourage anyone interested in sewing to make at least one for fun.
Materials Needed
- 2- 10” squares of 100% quilting cotton
- 2- 9” squares of 100% cotton batting
- Cotton thread
- Marking tool
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
Step 1: Gather the Materials
I am using two-layer cake squares from the Moda Fabrics collection “Flower Pot” by Lella Boutique and Pellon 100% cotton batting.
Step 2: Layout the Squares
Place the fabric squares right sides down and place a batting square in the center of each fabric square.
Step 3: Sew the Fabric and Batting Together.
Mark an “X” on the batting. This is your guideline for stitching the fabric and batting together.
Stitch along the guideline. Make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end of the lines to hold the stitches in place. Do this to both square and batting sets.
Step 4: Mark the Squares for Darts
Now comes the fun part! Fold one of the fabric and batting squares in half right side together so the batting is on the outside.
Make marks like the images below. You will mark 1” from the folded edge and 2 ½” up from the bottom edge.
Use a ruler and connect the two marks you made with your marking tool.
Repeat making the two marks and joining them on the top edge of your folded square.
Unfold the square and fold it in half the other way.
Repeat marking the edge closest to the fold and folded edge to create your dart marks.
Step 5: Sew the Darts
Take your folded square to your sewing machine and stitch along the lines you marked for the darts. Backstitch at the beginning and end of each line.
Once you have stitched the first two darts, fold the square the other way, line up the edges, and sew the other two darts.
Here’s what it will look like once you’ve stitched all four darts.
Trim the excess fabric and batting from the dart seams. This will take away a lot of unnecessary bulk from those seams.
Repeat Steps #4 and #5 to make the lining of the bowl cozy.
Step 6: Sew the Outer and Inner Bowls Together
Place the two pieces right sides together and pin or clip the edges together to hold them in place.
Sew around the edge of the bowl cozy using a ½” seam allowance. Leave an opening in the seam about 3” wide so you have room to turn the cozy right side out.
Step 7: Finish the Bowl Cozy
Using the gap in the seam, turn the cozy right side out. Be careful not to pull too hard at the stitches while doing this because you could rip the fabric or break stitches.
Once it is turned out completely, topstitch the top edge of the bowl cozy to stitch the opening shut and give the cozy a beautiful finished edge.
