Easy DIY Felt Cup Sleeve

I am working on some DIY tutorials to go along with my turquoise and copper powder room reveal, but in the meantime I wanted to share this project because if you’re looking for a super simple but practical fall/winter craft, you’ll love this easy DIY felt cup sleeve idea!  Obviously the best thing to do is avoid disposable paper and plastic cup waste altogether (with a hilarious travel mug!), but for those times that your favorite travel mug leaks, is dirty, or lost in the abyss of the corner cabinet, a DIY felt cup sleeve at least saves on a paper sleeve!  Every little bit helps, right?  Plus this easy DIY felt cup sleeve also makes a cute handmade gift and it’s a great way to use up felt scraps.  Here’s how I made my cup sleeve with large turquoise trimmed polka dots.

Supplies:

• Tapestry or embroidery needle
• Scissors
• Felted wool
• Turquoise embroidery thread
• Straight pins
• Paper cup sleeve to use as a pattern
• Paper to make pattern (optional)
• Dressmaker’s marking pencil (to trace onto felt)

DIY Felt Cup Sleeve Tutorial

Save the next paper cup sleeve you use to keep and use as a pattern.  You can trace it onto paper to make a thinner, more manageable pattern in you prefer (see above).  I made a pattern this way and also made my pattern a bit taller than the average cup sleeve – I love that it covers up coffee cup logos now too.  No one needs to know how much I love McDonald’s coffee, it’s embarrassing.

With my pattern in hand, I pinned it to my felt, traced it, and then cut it out.  I also cut out some small felt circles and basted them onto the sleeve.   Using a blanket stitch and leftover pieces of turquoise, blue and teal embroidery thread, I affixed the circles in a random pattern – easy peasy!

When the design was complete, I grabbed an old paper cup and pinned the ends of my DIY felt cup sleeve in place and checked for fit:

This I used a blanket stitch to sew it closed, and carried the stitch all the way around the edge to give my DIY felt cup sleeve a more finish look!  This easy DIY felt cup sleeve turned out so cute and it’s easy to make a whole bunch to give as gifts or stash in your car, purse, and gym bag so you always have one handy!

You can even make a larger one for a travel mug, if your travel mug is a little too hot to hold – or you just want to cover up a company name.  We have soooo many freebie travel coffee mugs that I like to use, but hate to advertise for random companies, so making one of these easy DIY felt cup sleeves to fit is a stylish solution!

If you want to try something even cuter, use my needle felting tutorial to felt a sweet design – anything from a simple shape made with a cookie cutter, to a more abstract design – onto the sleeve.  You could really personalize these for one-of-a-kind gifts.

I think I’m going to make a second one for my hideous travel mug and needle felt a summery scene to get me through the looooong winter ahead.  This very old post of mine has some great inspiration for more needle felting designs!

Happy crafting!