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How to Make a
Fabric Covered Koozie
This fabric covered koozie is a crafty sewing project and will construct easier and hold up better once it is finished if you use material with some weight to it such as denim, duck, tapestry or outdoor material such as the type you would use for patio cushions and pillows. Foam koozies are used for the insert and can be purchased from a number of sources or recycle some you already have!
Instructions:
Cut a piece of fabric 12 inches long and 6-1/2 inches wide. I use a rotary cutter and cutting mat to help me keep cutting lines nice and straight.
Fold your fabric in half. Using a water soluable marker, make a mark 5/8ths of an inch from the top. This mark is your fold line for the hem at the top (open end) of your fabric covered koozie. From the bottom, mark 1 inch. This line shows you where the bottom is going to be and will help you to find the center should you decide to do any embroidery. (Sorry you can't read the writing on the photo, but I hope you get the idea.)
If you plan on adding an initial or other machine embroidery design, now is the time. Here, I have hooped my fabric and am using a magna hoop to help hold it in place since it is such a small piece to work with. (If you don't have one of these, they are a really good hooping aid for hard to hoop items.) If you don't have a magna hoop, I also get good results using a spray adhesive to hold the fabric on medium weight tearaway stabilizer and then I hoop everything in my regular 4x4 hoop.
Stitch out your chosen design or decorate with other types of embellishment. A bedazzler would add some fun to this project as well.
I have finished decorating and before I fold this in half (bringing the bottom edge to the top edge) so that the right sides are together, I will serge the top and bottom edges for a clean overlocked finish (this is optional, you don't have to do this). Next, sew your side seams with a standard 5/8ths of an inch seam. Note: I use a serger so all my seams are trimmed and finished. If you don't have a serger, use an edging foot and finish your seam edges with your choice of one of the edging stitches found on your machine.
Pinch out the sides and measure far enough up from the point so that you have about 2 inches of fabric from side to side. (Making a sample koozie from scrap fabric will help you determine this measurement.) Sew across. Repeat on other side. This forms the bottom of your koozie.
Trim close to the sewing line. If you are using a serger, the trimming will already be done. Finish the top edge by folding over 1/4 inch, folding it again 1/2 inch (like a hem) then sewing it. OR if you have serged the top edge, fold over 5/8ths of an inch and sew above the serged edge. Ideally, the bottom edge of the koozie to the top finished edge should be 4 to 4-1/4 inches for a standard sized foam koozie.
That's it! Turn it inside out and slip it on the foam koozie of your choice.
Enjoy your new easy to sew fabric covered koozie!
You can find fun fabrics for projects like this one at Fabric.com
 as well as at Jo-Ann.com
 . Look for their on-line specials!
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