I made this teacup carrier on the weekend at Social Sewing and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. A friend of mine is moving overseas in a couple of weeks. She has been known to carry her own teacup around because she believes that tea tastes better from a pretty china cup. I have to say I agree with her! I thought a little teacup carrier to safely carry her teacup around was the perfect parting gift.

I made up the design as I went along and I think it’s worked out quite well. It sure is pretty! The inside is divided into three sections so you can carry a teacup, saucer and plate or teabags each in their own padded section. Each piece was quilted with a double layer of batting to make sure it was all well padded. The Liberty Betsy print really is the star of the pouch. It’s just so pretty. I think it’s my favourite Liberty print…that’s quite a big call!

I have a little teacup collection of my own that I’ve collected over the years. I’ve picked a couple up on my travels around the world and also have been given cups from family. I love that each cup has a little story to go along with it. I’m quite smitten with the teacup carrier, and even though I rarely take my own teacup anywhere I think I’m going to have to make one for myself. Do you know anyone that has their own travelling teacup?

A few people have asked for a pattern. I don’t have a pattern as such, but it was fairly straightforward. Here’s a quick rundown of what I did:

• The pattern piece was 9.5″ wide by 10.5″ tall. I rounded off the bottom with a 9″ embroidery hoop so that the bottom was a semi-circle.
• I made 4 pieces, 2 for the outer, 2 inner pockets. Each was quilted with a double layer of batting inside and lining fabric underneath. The same as you would make a quilt sandwich. I used 505 basting spray to secure the layers together and quilted with straight lines.
• I trimmed the 2 pocket pieces shorter by about 1.5″ then finished the top edge with bias binding.
• I then basted a pocket piece to the lining side of each outer piece.
• Next, I put the zip on. I stitched it to the outer layer and then folded under the lining side of each outer piece and hand stitched it down. I was able to do this because I used horizontal quilting on the outer pieces. This finished off the zip nicely both outside and inside.
• Then, I folded it in half, right side out, and basted all the layers together just around the outside. It is quite thick at this point, but my machine seemed to handle it ok.
• To finish the edge off, I hand stitched bias binding all the way around, tucking in the top edges.

Hope that helps anyone wanting to make one. If you do, please let me know, I’d love to see it!