Fabric Coffee Cozy

I bookmarked this project several months ago, and recently pulled out my sewing machine to give it a try! I thought these re-usable fabric coffee cozies were a very cute (and green friendly) alternative to the brown cardboard ones that you receive at coffee shops. I just stick mine in my purse, so I have it on hand if I decide to stop in for coffee.

I followed this tutorial and the photos & descriptions are so helpful! The directions were fairly easy to follow, even for a beginner sewer.

I used fat quarters of fabric and could cut several patterns out of each. I chose two fabrics that complimented each other...a solid for the inside and a patterned fabric for the outside. I tried out several different combinations of fabric and loved the variety of patterns & colors!

I used Insul Bright as my insulation. (You can buy it by the yard like fabric at a fabric store. I purchased mine at JoAnn's.) It will keep both hot and cold in, so it's perfect for use on iced drinks as well as coffee.

I did run into one trouble spot with the tutorial and made a modification. I photographed just the steps that I changed. (I apologize for the poor photo quality. I tend to always be working on projects at night when it's dark and the lighting is poor!)

In making my first cozy, I had problems tucking the fabric in and over the Insul Bright layer, hiding it, in the step where I flipped it inside out and sewed the end closed. My solution of cutting the Insul Bright layer a bit shorter than the other two made that step much easier and allowed me to get a cleaner seam when I closed it up.

After pinning my three layers together, I cut one end of the layer of Insul Bright about 1 centimeter shorter than the 2 fabric layers. (See photo above.)

After it is flipped inside out, it will look like the photo above. This was the only step that I changed. Otherwise, the tutorial worked perfectly!

I liked the width of my coffee cozy to be a little wider, so after I used my initial pattern, I widened the pattern on the top and the bottom. It's easy to adapt your pattern and I would recommend sewing one complete cozy, then deciding if you would like to modify your pattern at all before cutting any more.

As a final step, I sprayed the finished cozy with Scotch Guard fabric spray to make it easy to clean. If I get any coffee drips, it will be easier to wipe them right off with a damp cloth with the layer of Scotch Guard protection.

I am really happy with how they turned out! I sent one as a surprise to a friend and she really liked it. I think they make fun little gifts!