#34: Keep Me Cozy

I've been working at Vera Bradley since November.  Originally, I was hired for the holiday but I love what I'm doing and they love me so they hired me on into the New Year.  I will most likely never see a paycheck but its so fun to be around things I love all day.  I love Vera Bradley and love to share the colors and ways to jazz up your life with everyday staples!  On any given day, I most likely have 5-8 pieces of VB in my bag (which is obviously, Vera Bradley).  I'm a walking advertisement and I love it.

This winter, a guest (customer) made something for one of my coworkers for helping her in the store.  It was an amazing idea which I then attempted myself.  It's a little bit of work but its worth it for the adorable COFFEE COZY you'll have at the end!  I'm going to send one to Fort Wayne this week (Vera Bradley HQ) to share the love.  And because every piece of VB has an adorable name, this little cutie is called "Keep Me Cozy" (thanks to one of my coworkers, Marie, for brainstorming with me).

What you'll need:

VB quilted placemat, canvas in coordinating color (I found mine at JoAnn fabrics), big button, coordinating hair elastic
Not pictured: coffee sleeve from Starbucks or equal to use as template, sewing machine

Step One: Take apart your coffee sleeve and trace it on a piece of paper.  Add about 1/2 inch around the edges for a seam allowance.

Step Two: Use the template to cut out pieces of the placemat.  I found that you can cut about 5 out of one placemat by stacking them on top of each other like a tower (if you have the placemat the "portrait" way).

Don't do it like this because you won't get as many cut out of the fabric.  At first I was worried about the border but you can just cut through it and remove it with a seam ripper.

Step Three: Do the same with your canvas.

Step Four: Pin the hair elastic to the edge of the placemat on the RIGHT side of the fabric (the side you want on the outside).  Use your sewing machine to anchor this (its tricky because of the bulk of the elastic but it can be done with some persistence).  

Step Five: Place the canvas fabric RIGHT side down on top of the RIGHT side of the placemat.  Sew around the edge, leaving 1 to 2 inches on an edge to flip the thing inside out.

Step Six: Flip the cozy right side out!  Its a little tricky but you'll get the hang of it and how much of an opening you need to leave yourself to make this work.  I used the end of a paintbrush to poke out the corners once I had it flipped so they're not stuck in.

If you sewed your elastic on correctly, it should pop out and be on the outside now that the cozy is flipped.

Step Seven: Sew a top stitch around the entire outside of the cozy to close up the hole you left to flip it as well as "finish" the edges.  

Step Eight: Place your button and sew that on the opposite side from the elastic.

VOILA!  Your "Keep Me Cozy" Vera Bradley coffee cozy is now complete.

How cute is this?

I hope this inspires you to create all sorts of adorable things this year!  I'm excited to have finished this (its on my list of things to do before I turn 25) though I only finished 4 or 5 and have about 25 sitting downstairs to work on... the sewing machine and I do not get along so its a struggle for me.  :)  I just love carrying around my coffee when its all beautified by this cozy and want to share with my coworkers so I have a lot to do!  I hope Pat and Barb (the co-founders of Vera Bradley) love them too!