In Seattle, coffee is king, and it’s easy to pick up someone else’s cup (or worse, someone could pick up yours!) when they all look alike. So make your cuppa easy to find with a distinctive piece of art. Read on to learn how to make a DIY coffee cup sleeve!
This coffee cozy pattern is reusable.
DIY Coffee Sleeve
Make your own custom DIY coffee sleeve and add some embroidery and bead embellishments. Use wool felt to help keep the cup insulated in your favorite colors.
These DIY coffee sleeves make great gifts! Customize the colors and embellishments for your recipient.
Materials
- 10" x 5" piece of felted wool for the outside of your cozy
- 10" x 5" piece of quilter's cotton for the lining
- 10" x 5" Fast2Fuse or similar fusible stabilizer
- Perle cotton thread: I used size 8
- Neutral or matching sewing thread to whip stitch your wool and cotton fabrics
- Glass beads with holes large enough to accommodate the perle cotton threaded onto a needle
Tools
- Cardboard coffee sleeve from your favorite barista to use as a template
- Chalk pencil, Frixion pen or other non-permanent, easily removable marking tool
- Iron
- Ironing board
- Nonstick pressing sheets
- Sharp fabric scissors and thread snips
- Hand sewing needle that will fit through your chosen beads when threaded with perle cotton
- Your favorite hand sewing needle
- Thimble
- Needle puller
Instructions
- Save a cardboard sleeve from a barista visit.
- Open one side of the sleeve to create a template for cutting Fast2Fuse. No seam allowances added here - the template is the finished size. Trace around the template onto the Fast2Fuse and cut out the shape. The Fast2Fuse will be covered by the fabric, so it's okay if the marks remain after cutting.
- Trace template on the wool, then cut even with the curved top and bottom. Add 1/2-inch on each end of the wool for seam allowance.
- Here is a close up of adding the 1/2-inch seam allowance.
- Embellish wool with perle cotton and beads, leaving seam allowance unstitched. I did a meandering feather stitch, adding an occasional bead. You can stitch any design you like. Create Whimsy's collection of embroidery tutorials is a great place to find stitches to try. One word of advice: Don't put your project down in the vicinity of a lab puppy. He'll think you made him a chew toy and then it will look bedraggled like the piece in the photo.
- Following the manufacturer's instructions, apply the Fast2Fuse to the wrong side of the cotton fabric, protecting the iron and ironing surface with nonstick pressing sheets. Cut the fabric, adding a 1/2-inch seam/fold over allowance and clip the concave curve. Being careful to keep the iron in contact with fabric only, fold the seam allowance over the edges of the Fast2Fuse and press the seam allowance in place.
- Join the straight edges of the cotton-covered Fast2Fuse, with fabric facing the inside of the circle, and whip stitch the edges together. Fit the embellished wool over the lined Fast2Fuse, turn under the seam allowance and whip stitch the folded edges together. If you are very clever (or very lucky) your embroidery design will match at the seam.
- Blanket stitch the embellished wool and covered lining together along top and bottom of the cozy. These are thick layers, so the stabbing method works best. A good thimble and needle puller are your friends.
- Take care to push the needle straight through on your blanket stitches to keep the depth of each stitch the same on the inside and outside of the sleeve. Bury the thread end between the layers. Then you're done with your wool coffee sleeve. Get yourself a cup of coffee - you've earned it!
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You can make reusable coffee sleeves from quilters cotton and batting.
- Use the sleeve your favorite coffee shop provides as your sleeve template.
- Draw the pattern and add 1-inch around all edges.
- Cut two (2) pieces of fabric and one (1) piece of batting with the extra 1-inch.
- Layer the batting, one piece of fabric right side up and then the last piece of fabric right side down.
- Sew, with a 1/2-inch seam allowance, along the wider long edge which would be closest to the top of your cup. Press the seam open. You now have a big piece of fabric with curved edges on both sides.
- Line up the sides (shorter ends of your fabric) and sew them together, catching the batting in the seam. You now have a big loop. Turn so the right sides are out and press again.
- Turn in the bottom edge about 1/2-inch and topstitch. The DIY coffee sleeve made from fabric is ready to be used!
Make it yours! Have fun with different fabrics and embellishment ideas. Use scraps of trims, try out that new embroidery stitch that’s been calling to you. There are so many ideas for making a coffee cup sleeve that is uniquely yours!
Check out all of the embroidery and beading projects on Create Whimsy.
Make a mug cozy for your coffee mug at home!
