I know you've probably seen or heard of these bowls. In case you haven't, these are sewn bowls that you can microwave but they won't get hot. You know when you microwave a bowl of oatmeal or a mug of tea and you reach in to get your stuff out and burn your fingers? Well, if you put the bowl or mug in a "microwave-a-bowl" first you won't get burned.
So I decided to make some. They're really easy to make. I know a couple ladies make them for craft shows each fall and they practically walk out the door. First of all, here's what you'll need to make these:
Materials:
Microwaveable 100% Cotton Batting (Pellon or Warm & Natural)
100% Cotton Fabric
100% Cotton Thread
Notice how there is nothing on the list like polyester. That's because we don't want anything to catch fire. Hot tea, good. Fire, bad. You get the idea. You can get all of these materials at any craft store.
So let's get started. You can make these any size you want but here's the basics. Cut 2, 10" squares from your cotton fabric and batting. I used the Pellon microwaveable batting and I found it a little stretchy so don't worry if it doesn't line up exactly with your cotton square.
Next, layer your cotton fabric on top of your batting and sew from corner to corner making a large X across your fabric. Do this to both squares.
Next, make your darts. Darts will draw the fabric from a square shape into a more round shape. To sew the darts. Fold your square in half on the vertical, lay it down on a hard surface. Keeping the fold side to the right, measure 1" to the left and mark and 2" down and mark. You can use a pencil or pen or chalk. Whatever you've got on hand. Now, draw a line from the top mark to the bottom, making a triangle.
Grab, the bottom of the fold and flip up. Keep the folded of the square to the right, make a second set of marks and triangle. Unfold the square and fold in half horizontally and repeat the process. You should have 4 marks like this. Repeat this on the second square.
Refold the square one way so you can see the line you marked and sew along the line. Do this on all 4 lines. Trim away the triangle, making sure you don't cut into the sewn lines. Repeat this on the second square.
After you've sewn and trimmed the darts on both squares, place the squares right sides together lining up the seams for the darts and pin together. Next, sew all around the square leaving a 3-4" opening for turning. Tip: Don't leave a corner open. Make sure your opening is along a straight edge. This is a little tricky since there's a lot of batting at the darts even with the trimming. Before you turn your square right sides out, trim off the little tips of corners to get rid of the extra batting. Just don't cut your stitch line. Turn your square right sides out and pop your corners out as far as possible.
At the opening, turn your fabric inward and either pin, clamp or just hold it in place. Now you're going to top stitch all around the edge about 1/4" in from the outside. This will sew your opening closed. Topstitching is a bit tough. There's a lot of layers at this point so just do your best. Your bowl is now complete.
Your bowl is also completely washable and reversible. I'm sure it'll get gunky with food spills so wash away, my friend, wash away. Also if you want your bowl taller just make the darts deeper. So instead of 2" down the fold, go 2.5" or 3" etc.
You can make 15", 12" or 10" squares. I did one that was 8" and it was a bit small even for a mug to fit into so I would stick with the bigger squares.
So I decided to make some. They're really easy to make. I know a couple ladies make them for craft shows each fall and they practically walk out the door. First of all, here's what you'll need to make these:
Materials:
Microwaveable 100% Cotton Batting (Pellon or Warm & Natural)
100% Cotton Fabric
100% Cotton Thread
Notice how there is nothing on the list like polyester. That's because we don't want anything to catch fire. Hot tea, good. Fire, bad. You get the idea. You can get all of these materials at any craft store.
So let's get started. You can make these any size you want but here's the basics. Cut 2, 10" squares from your cotton fabric and batting. I used the Pellon microwaveable batting and I found it a little stretchy so don't worry if it doesn't line up exactly with your cotton square.
Next, layer your cotton fabric on top of your batting and sew from corner to corner making a large X across your fabric. Do this to both squares.
Next, make your darts. Darts will draw the fabric from a square shape into a more round shape. To sew the darts. Fold your square in half on the vertical, lay it down on a hard surface. Keeping the fold side to the right, measure 1" to the left and mark and 2" down and mark. You can use a pencil or pen or chalk. Whatever you've got on hand. Now, draw a line from the top mark to the bottom, making a triangle.
Grab, the bottom of the fold and flip up. Keep the folded of the square to the right, make a second set of marks and triangle. Unfold the square and fold in half horizontally and repeat the process. You should have 4 marks like this. Repeat this on the second square.
Refold the square one way so you can see the line you marked and sew along the line. Do this on all 4 lines. Trim away the triangle, making sure you don't cut into the sewn lines. Repeat this on the second square.
After you've sewn and trimmed the darts on both squares, place the squares right sides together lining up the seams for the darts and pin together. Next, sew all around the square leaving a 3-4" opening for turning. Tip: Don't leave a corner open. Make sure your opening is along a straight edge. This is a little tricky since there's a lot of batting at the darts even with the trimming. Before you turn your square right sides out, trim off the little tips of corners to get rid of the extra batting. Just don't cut your stitch line. Turn your square right sides out and pop your corners out as far as possible.
At the opening, turn your fabric inward and either pin, clamp or just hold it in place. Now you're going to top stitch all around the edge about 1/4" in from the outside. This will sew your opening closed. Topstitching is a bit tough. There's a lot of layers at this point so just do your best. Your bowl is now complete.
Your bowl is also completely washable and reversible. I'm sure it'll get gunky with food spills so wash away, my friend, wash away. Also if you want your bowl taller just make the darts deeper. So instead of 2" down the fold, go 2.5" or 3" etc.
You can make 15", 12" or 10" squares. I did one that was 8" and it was a bit small even for a mug to fit into so I would stick with the bigger squares.
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