Here’s another cute gift idea that is super-frugal and extremely cute — handmade coffee cozies!
Isn’t it adorable? It’s reusable, eco-friendly, and it keeps your drink warm too. You won’t believe how quick and easy this project is.First, find an old wool sweater and put it in the washing machine using hot water, then in the dryer to felt up the wool. We used this one:
Next, cut out the pieces of felt for the applique.
I used a blanket stitch with coordinated embroidery floss around all the pieces of felt. Cut off the bottom 4 1/2 inches of the sleeve of your now-felted sweater.
Use fabric glue to adhere the felt pieces in place. I used a little bit of stitching to make it a little more secure.
Allow the glue to dry, and you are done!
Mmmm… time for tea!
Dear Valerie,
Aaaaaah! What did you do to my sweater?!
Love,
Mark
Mark is seriously funny. I think this is an adorable idea. But I have a dumb question. What is a blanket stitch and how do you do it. I've learned the split stitch, but not that one. Thanks.
OMG… stinking CUTE!!! I love it! I have arms of sweaters hanging out all over the place, (because I couldn't just throw them away… that's right up there with turning down organic food) and now I know what to do with them. Although I am trying to be budget friendly and only have coffee out on Sundays. Sigh…
Val
That is a very cute idea.
@ Mark — Oops! You didn't really want that sweater, did you? Now, on to decoupage those bottles of scotch…..Tee hee! O:-)
@ Ivy — Not a stupid question at all. There's a quick tutorial on the blanket stitch here. I would have included that in the post, but my photographer (aka Emily) is visiting with my parents for a few days.
@ Val in the Rose Garden — Isn't it fun to make things from old sweaters? It's kind of addicting! I bet you could get several coffee cozies out of one sleeve. Fun!
@Valerie – Don't force me to drink the Gin. You would probably really like that, though, because it is in a cool blue bottle.
Help!
Cool idea I have to find some nice sweaters to felt. Hubby has a pile that I might raid ;o)
I just saw this in Family Fun Magazine today too and was itching to do it…the only problem is that we have NO wool sweaters in our closets, old or not! I guess that's the price I pay for living in California! Looks like I need to hit up Goodwill because this project is super cute! 🙂
@Heidi — I had no idea it was in there, but I have seen similar ones on etsy and such. They are so cute, and I couldn't believe how easy they are to make!
LOL… Mark is so funny. I had a feeling he would say that.
That's really cute.
Adorable!
So funny Mark, I saw that one coming!
I love the coffee cozy. Super cute and cozy!
love it! i wouldn't know where to begin with it! but i love it.
Love this idea!!
Hi Valerie
I have been known to shrink a few jumpers in the wash in my time and this is the perfect solution. Your coffee cozie is so sweet and it would make drinking a warm coffee that much cosier.
Luv all of your projects. A question though…how do you keep the cut edge from fraying???
Gwen
Hallo Valerie, I'm an italian frugal mom! your blog is wonderful and the last post is very very lovely! Can I take inspiration?! I'm goingo to insert you in my blog and I wait for you on web! sorry for my bad bad english!
love
LOL this is great. I need to make a few for my son, only I don't have an old sweater so I think I'll just use felt. Since he'll be making lots of hot coco this winter.
very cute!
@ Gwen — Welcome! The wool is felted, so the sweater went through the wash (hot cycle) to keep the cut edge from fraying. It worked really well! Hope this helps!
@ biancifiore — So nice to see you here! Feel free to link to us, and your English is far better than my Italian! 😉
This is sooo awsome. I've been thinking of how to make some coffee cup cozies. I will try this for sure. Maybe I can make a tea cozy out of the body part of the sweater? Huummmm. It's a thought. And yes maybe the Thrift Shop would be a great place to find old wool sweaters. 🙂 I want to make this NOW!!!
Great idea for a simple holiday gift too!
Great post! I love how it turned out. I will admit that I was skeptical when I first saw the cut-outs, but the embroidery really perked it up.
You are very talented!
🙂
Stop by and visit me sometime over at Free 2 Be Frugal!
Great idea! I'm going to have to do this. For myself, as well as gifts.
What a CUTE idea!! I love it!
That is the best idea to reuse an old sweater that I've ever seen!
i love that!
i am going to look into making these…thanks! 🙂
Thanks for the craft idea – this looks very easy, but looks great