Mug Wrap and Tea Bag Pouch

Potato Salad Heather's birthday is two days after mine and we have shared celebrations in the past. This year was our 30th birthday (as you might have seen from my earlier post).

I decided I was going to make her something crocheted for her birthday gift. I've been doing quite a bit of crochet lately, and it's not because I've fallen out of love with all the other types of craft I do, it's just more easily accessible at the moment. I'm quite busy with uni work and children, toddler group and life in general, and crochet is something that I can fit in a few spare moments for here and there without taking a long time to gather the tools and materials required, it's portable, and it's quick.

Heather has many allergies and intolerances including black tea, so she usually has her own red tea or other with her and she tends to carry it around in a little plastc food bag. This was all I could think of after it entered my mind, so I decided to make a prettier pouch for her. I was originally going to make it the width of a single tea bag, but then I thought, if I make it double sized, it would fit a teaspoon in too :)

I followed the pattern in Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench for the floral purse.

Once it was finished, I cut small triangles of fabric and felt to create the mini bunting. I back stitched them in place and added the 'H' to one of the flags, and the small bird perched on the top of the bunting.

I looked at it and thought, wow, that seems kinda small for a present...

So I set to work making a mug cosy to match. I bought a plain white mug, and used the same stitch pattern as the pouch, checking it frequently against the mug to check for fit. Once it was the right size to fit around the mug, I created a button loop and sewed a button on which fastens through the handle space. I used the same fabric and felt to cut larger triangles to create bunting all the way around the mug cosy. I embroidered the 'H' on one of the flags again, and I was all done.

In true Vicky style, it was about a month late, but I got there!