Handmade tea bags: Nifty gifties!

I’ve seen these on Pinterest. Lots of folks have made them, and most of them had much prettier products than mine, but here’s the lowdown:

Materials:

• Unbleached coffee filters
• Embroidery thread and needle
• Vinegar
• Loose tea
• Scissors

Method:

1. The day before you assemble the tea bags, soak your embroidery thread in a mixture of vinegar and water to set the color, then rinse and let dry. This step is optional, and I’m not entirely sure it’s necessary, but I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry. The last thing you want is for your thread color to bleed into your grandma’s tea. You could also use butcher’s twine if you are worried about dye leaching into your tea.
2. Cut two identical shapes from the coffee filter. I’ve seen hearts done pretty frequently. I made stars and flowers.
3. Sew the two shapes together, leaving a gap at the end so you can stuff the tea in before sealing. In the pictures, you will see that I used a simple stitch, which was really stupid. It works short-term, but lots of tea was falling out by the time I had moved the bags around a few times. Use a backstitch so that it’s completely sealed. 
4. Add the tea, finish stitching the sides together, then leave a long tail for dunking. You can add a personalized tag if you are fancy.