Give a Gift Series | Coffee Cozy DIY

October 20, 2011

Give a Gift Series | Coffee Cozy DIY

One of the my favourite items that I've made myself is my coffee cozy. I use it all the time! It's small and easy to keep in my purse and I find I always grab for it whenever I get a coffee or even to put around a cold drink. I must say, I also feel pretty stylish with my pretty, eco friendly coffee cozy wrapped around my London Fog.

I made this cloth cozy using the pattern and tutorial found here. I loved that I could just print out the pattern and use it to cut all my pieces. It's a super simple tutorial and didn't take long to make the cozy. In fact, I even made a bulk stash of them to give my family as our "table presents" last year for Christmas.

If you don't have a printer (or like me are refusing to pay $50 for the ink cartridge!) you could just use a cardboard sleeve and trace a 1/2 inch inseam all the way around and use that as your pattern. For my elastics I use hair elastics rather than the elastic by the yard. It's prettier.

I've also seen a lot of crochet coffee sleeves popping up on Pinterest and I figured they looked pretty simple to make. I was right. Last night around 1am, while crafting with a friend I decided to try and whip up a few. I actually think they're pretty cute! (Excuse the mini coffee cup, it's all I had on hand - from my kids play kitchen - Ha!)

Brace yourselves... what you're about to see is the most hack attempt at a crochet patter that you've ever seen! I shouldn't even include it but in the event that you want a "jumping off" point for making your own crochet cozy pattern, this may help.

I basically just crocheted a chain as long as my current coffee cozy (or you could use a starbucks sleeve). Mine was 28 stitches long.
So:
Row 1: Chain 28.
Row 2: Chain 1, turn and then do 28 SC (Single Crochet). Chain 1.
Row 3: Turn, 28 DC (Double Crochet), Chain 1.
Row 4: Turn, 28 DC, Chain 1.
(Depending on the bulk of your yarn and the tightness of your stitches stop her or add one more row.)
Row 5: Turn, 28 DC, Slip stitch and knot.
** This will give you a pretty straight cozy. If you want it to be wider at the top just increase each row by 1 or 2 stitches each time. To increase, just do 2 DC in the same stitch.

I then used a yarn needle to sew a button on one side. I didn't crochet in a button hole but because I tend to have a loose and flexible stitch I knew I'd just be able to push my button through wherever. This way I can make it tighter or looser depending on the size of the cup.