Water Bottle Holder
CUTTING:
The water bottle holder that you will be creating will require four pieces of fabric cut to the
following sizes:
Top 3” x 12”
Middle 5” x 12”
Bottom 6” x 12”
Strap 4” x (14” – 36”)
You may use all of the same fabric, or any combination of different fabrics. You may
choose the length of your strap – but it must be a minimum of 14” long.
IRONING:
Once all four pieces are cut, they will need to be ironed. The middle and bottom pieces
should be ironed flat, the top piece will need to be ironed folded along the long direction
so that it ends up being 1.5” x 12” with the right side of the fabric facing out. The strap
needs to be ironed in half along the long direction with the wrong side of the fabric facing
out.
STRAIGHT SEAMS:
You will pin and sew four straight seams. For each seam, make sure that you backstitch at
the beginning and end of your line to lock the stitching into place.
Your first seam will connect your bottom and middle pieces. To sew this seam correctly,
place your bottom and middle pieces together along one of the 12” sides with the right
side of both fabrics facing in towards each other. Align the edges of the fabric so that one
of the 12” seams of each piece are together and pin that edge using straight pins coming
from the center of the fabric. You will then sew along that edge, approximately ½” from
the edge of the two fabrics.
For your second seam you will connect the top piece to your middle piece. To sew this
seam correctly, place the folded top section on top of the free edge of the right side of
your middle piece – along the 12” edge that is not connected to the bottom section. Pin
these edges together so that the two edges of the top section are lined up with the edge
of the middle section. You will then pin these together using straight pins from the center
of the fabric and sew a seam through all three layers approximately ½” from the edge of
the fabrics.
Before you sew your third seam iron the three attached sections of the water bottle
holder flat with the seams opened and the top section pulled up to the correct location.
Then fold it in half with the right-side facing in. Make sure that your top piece is pulled up
to create the top of the bottle holder, and not folded down where it was sewn. Line up both
edges of your top piece and pin them together, and then line up your middle and bottom
pieces so that they are aligned all the way to the bottom. Pin your sections together and
sew down the edge starting at the top of the water bottle holder with a ½” seam
allowance.
For your fourth seam you will pin and sew along the long edge of your strap connecting
the two edges together in an inside-out tube.
BOX PLEAT BOTTOM
For the bottom of the water bottle holder you will create a box pleat in order for the bottle
to sit flat in the holder.
With the water bottle holder inside out, measure across the bottom from the fold to the
seam where you connected it into a tube. Divide that number by 4 and measure that far
in from each side from the seam that is on one side and from the fold on the other side
and mark those locations on your bottom sections. Then, from the outside edge of the
bottom you will sew in on each side to that mark. Once you have made those two small
seams, you will have an open section in the center of the bottom where you did not stitch.
Open that opening and fold the two unsewn sides on top of the partial seams you have
sewn for the box pleat – one in each direction. Pin those sides into place and sew a
straight seam across all layers to complete the bottom.
ATTACHING THE HANDLE
Before you sew on your handle, you will need to turn it right side out using a safety pin.
Once you have it right side out, you can iron it flat with the seam centered down the back
of the strap.
To mark the location for the handle, fold the top section of your water bottle holder over to
expose the seam that connects the top and middle sections. Pull the water bottle holder
open with the seam centered in the back and mark the two sides that are exactly opposite
each other. Then you can pin one end of your handle centered on one of the marks. Make
sure that the seam on the handle will be facing the inside of the water bottle holder when
you are finished. After one side is attached, you can pin and attach the second side
centering it on the other mark. Doublecheck that there are no twists in the strap before
you attach the second side.
SEWING BUTTONS:
Watch the video on BLEND for step-by-step instructions on hand sewing buttons.
Once your strap is attached the last thing to do is attach your buttons! Choose two
buttons that have 2 – 4 holes in the center. They will be attached on the top section of the
water bottle holder where the straps are on each side. The buttons will need to be sewn
thru the top section AND the strap, and they will reinforce and secure the strap in the
proper place.
