My Wonderbag



I basically followed the directions giving in the link in the original posting with a few tweaks of of my own.

*You need to start with a circle of fabric large enough to center a pot in it and be able to come up and over the top with enough to be able to make a drawstring casing. Mine was 40 something inches.

(Keep in mind the polystyrene beads [plastic stuffing beads] (will take up some of the bulk of the fabric.) (I bought 2 bags. Used a coupon on one. )

*So first I made that outer circle with a drawstring channel all the way around. Don't forget to leave an opening for your drawstring!

*Then I cut a piece of Insul-Bright (Got it on sale. It's used to line pot holders or oven mitts) in a circle just smaller than the drawstring channel.

*On top of that I put a piece the same size of cotton batting, then a slightly bigger piece of cotton fabric, right side up. I folded that fabric all the way around over the Insul-Bright and stitched it to it. NOT attaching it to the outer fabric.

*Now you have your Insu-Bright, cotton batting, cotton fabric sandwich. Center it to the wrong side of your outer fabric, right side of cotton fabric showing (it's your inside fabric)

*Find the center of your circle and trace around the bottom of your pot or use your pot lid. Stitch your sandwich circle leaving an opening to put in some of the polystyrene beads between the outer fabric and Insu-Bright, add beads and sew closed.

*Next you need to make side channels in your circle radiating out from your center circle. I made 8. So stitch lines radiating out but don't sew them closed or over your drawstring channel! I put the plastic stuffing beads in 4 channels, skipping every other one, using the rest of the first bag and all of the second. No they didn't go all the way up. The empty channels bulked up when I cinched it up and remember I used the Insul-Bright too.

*After that is done stitch through the edge of your inner fabric to close off your channels.

*Make a pillow top to go on the lid. (I filled mine with some plastic beading from a pillow that had a hole in it that I no longer wanted.

*I made mine too small and over filled it so it will be a redo as I didn't take into account the lid handle.

*Put your drawstring through making it long enough so you can cinch it closed and not work its way back into the channel. 

Happy Slow Cooking! Be sure to use a food thermometer to check your temp when you open it, AT THE END!
I did place a potholder with silicone dots on it in the bottom before I placed my pot in it. See Below. I was leery of placing a hot pot on top of those plastic beads. 

(The fabric I used for the outside was a bit piece of scrap Marimekko I picked up at a Crate and Barrel outlet for $1 a pound!)

P.S. -  Should Jan from PQW happen to be reading this. This was my "Block of the Month".  : )