7/2/09

Two-tutes: Repurposed Sweater into Coffee Coozie

I am combining this coozie, from House on Hill Road with this knitted coozie from Knitterella. Really this is a three tutorial combo because there is also this one from Craft Addiction, which is about repurposing a sweater. And from henceforth, I will call these cozies, instead of coozies. I either feel like an 18 year old frat boy or a 50 year old redneck when I say coozie. Either way, when you combine all those tutorials, you get this:


What you need:
old sweater
scissors
sewing machine
velcro
liquid stitch


Step 1--cut off the cuffs of the old sweater.
Step 2--cut the cuffs open, and cut out the seam.

Step 3--lay one cuff on top of the other, lining up the finished edges as best as you can.
Step 4--sew a new seam across the unfinished edges, I used a zig-zag stitch, I think that makes it better, but I'm just guessing!

Step 5--fold your cuffs over the new seam
Step 6--top stitch in a big rectangle around all the edges

Step 7--using the liquid stitch, glue your pieces of velcro onto opposite edges of the cozy. So glue it on one side then flip it over and glue the other piece on the opposite side!! Es muy importante!! I chose the liquid stitch because my machine doesn't do well with thick stuff, so adding the velcro to the two layers of sweater wouldn't have worked. Also, my velcro has sticky backing, and I have heard it makes a big mess on your needle, I wasn't willing to find out if the rumor was true, so I used the liquid stitch.

And there you have it:

Project Rating:
Supplies--I had everything on-hand.
Execution--Completed in less than 15 minutes--starting from scratch.
Fun factor--10/10, but this is a quick, cheap project, and those are right up my alley!
Mess factor--pretty much nil.
Side notes/learned by experience--
My sister had this genius idea, put some puff paint on the inside so it doesn't slip off your Starbucks cup!! I don't have any puff paint, but am going to pick some up on my next craft supply run. Also learned that my machine does not do thick stuff well, if you look close at any of the photos you can see just how poor the stitches are, but mission accomplished in spite of crooked and uneven lines!! These would make great little gifts for the coffee drinkin' ladies in your life!

Other ways to repurpose sweaters:
Pillows from My Mama Made
Coin Purse from Craftster
Scarf from Knitty
House Slippers from Sew Green
Hats also on Craftster
Cashmere Bunnies on Betz White--she also has a book on repurposing things to sew with
Cute little tote bage on WhipUp

1 comment:

RinaZ said...

This is a GREAT idea!! Would make cute stocking stuffers too! It would help cold drinks too cause they get all wet :)

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Thank you again for sharing your wonderful talent!