Kotatsu
From Mod Mania
Contents |
Intro
A Kotatsu is a Japanese heated table. The idea is a short coffee table that sits on a heavy blanket, with a heater attatched underneath.
I am going to be converting my worktable (an ikea dinning table), an old blanket, a quilt cover set and a heater to make my own kotatsu.
This is my work table
The dimension of the table are L175xW76xH74cm. Thus the total circumference of the working area of the table is 500cm.
Insulation
I started out with an old blanket, dimensions 240x210cm, and did rough calculations and figured out that I needed to cut the blanket into 3 80x210 pieces to surround the table and give me extra room for a flap for entry. The idea is that the insulation should reach from the table top to the floor so as to provide complete insulation of the enclosed area.
I cut the blanket and then I checked the material inside the blanket and how it attaches to the cloth. Basically it is a foam material and from what I have found there is no forms of attachment of foam to the cloth. Thus in order to sew it shut I pushed the foam material a bit into the cloth cover and then sewed a straight line along the blanket.
In order to make a cloth cover for the blanket for my heated table, I got a quilt cover in the right size (buying cloth was more expensive) and I cut it into 3 pieces, similarly to the blanket. When cutting the quilt cover, keep in mind to avoid the buttons that are used to close the quilt cover. These buttons are located on one side of the quilt cover.
Once they were cut I turned the cut quilt covers inside out to sew them together. This is done so that the seam is hidden within the cover. The reason this can be done inside out is because quilt covers come with one end so that the blanket can be inserted and removed, thus have an opening to allow you to turn the material inside out. Once this was done, it meant that the covers for the cut blankets were done and what was left was how to attach the insulation to the table.
Attachments
In my particular case, my table has a slight gap that runs round the bottom of the table. Thus I decided to use the method of tying the insulation to the table so that it will be removable. To do this I decided to use the pillow covers that came with the quilt cover set to make the "ties".
The dimensions of the pillow cases were 73 x 49cm. After some rough calculations I decided that half the width of the pillow cover was sufficient for the height of one piece of "tie", with the width of one being 2 cm.
Firstly what I did was to cut out the "flap" in the pillow case. I then cut the pillowcase in half and measured out 2cm markings along the pillowcase, which I then proceeded to cut out.
Initially I decided to sew the tie shut and then turn it inside out, to hide the seams as well. However due to its small width I was unable to turn it inside out, without breaking the stitching at least. Concequently, I decided just to sew the ties shut, with the stitching exposed.I intended to attach 9 pairs of these ties to each blanket so at least 54 of such ties had to be made. These ties were to be spaced along the cover such that it will evenly support the weight of the blanket as well as to minimize the gap between the table and the blanket.
I then proceeded to sew the ties to the quilt cover. The ties are attached in pairs at 9 points of the quilt cover, along the top edge of the cover material. For the side that faces the table, the tie goes downwards, and for the side that faces away from the table, the tie goes up. This allows for the front part of the insulation to be pulled up higher than the back part. This is so when the blanket is tied to the table the gap between the table and the blanket is minimized. To actually sew the tie on, the tie is put in its designated place and has multiple lines (via the sewing machine "U-turn" function) sewn at 2 points.
Once the ties are sew on, Velcro is then sewn onto both the blanket and the quilt cover. The purpose of the Velcro is to prevent the blankets from falling down inside the quilt covers, thus making them redundant. Thus Velcro is sewn along the top parts of the respective items. For the quilt cover, the Velcro is sewn onto the back of the quilt cover (side facing the table) so as to hide the stitches. Of course all the Velcro is on the inside of the quilt cover.
Once the velcro is sewn on. The blanket can be put into the covers. Note that attatching the blanket to the quilt cover before turning the covers the right way makes it easier and ensures that the blanket is attached to the quilt cover on the inside.
Once all this is done the insulation for the heated table is done.
Heater
For the heater, I am using a mini 5 fin heater from Big-W. I am using this because of the advice that a heater fan is prone to catch fire when covered with a material. Of course when positioning the heater one must ensure that is it out of the way of ones feet, away from electrical power points (as per the instruction manual) and the controls must be easily accessible.
Assembly
Once you got all you materials together, first position your heater underneath the table and plug it in. This is to allow for the space taken up by the power plug to be taken into account when attaching the insulation material to the table.
Then start attaching the insulation material to the table. The method to attach the insulation to the table is to tie the insulation (with the ties attached to the covers) via the gap in the table. Slide the ties into the respective area and tie a removable knot. Repeat the process for all the ties on a cover, evenly spacing the attachments along the table.
In total I have 3 blankets to attach. The idea is for one to cover the back of the table while the other 2 covers the sides and overlap in the front. The overlap is to allow your feet entry into the enclosed area below the table while reducing the amount of heat lost. It is also necessary to overlap the insulations slightly when attaching them to the table. This is to prevent heat lost from the gaps when the insulation ends
Once all the insulations are in place, turn on the heater and stick you legs through the flap and let them be warm. XD
Variations
For those with tables that do not have a gap that allows you to tie the insulation to the table, Velcro can be used as a substitute. Attach Velcro along the top edge of the cover (facing the table) and attach the other side of the Velcro directly onto the table. This will allow the insulation to attach easily and still be removable.
For different tables, there will be different dimensions. Thus different blankets sizes can/should be used.
Tips
Before you sew your quilt covers together (after cutting them). Sew on you Velcro and/or ties. This will make it very very much easier to do so and thus save you a lot of time, effort and unpicking.
When hand sewing the hook part of Velcro, you can sew it easier by folding the Velcro area hook to hook and then just passing the needle through the cover and the back of the Velcro
Using colored thread helps you to hand sew the Velcro on easier as you can differentiate between your stitches and the material of the cover.
As you tie your insulation to the table, there will be less and less light in the area you are working in. Find a torch beforehand.
