Water Bottle Cover Tutorial

Where I'm a volunteer, they don't want their Pioneers passing out in the sun, so they do encourage us to have water bottles - but covered. Here's how I made our water bottle covers. (When I make one again, I'll add real pictures.)

But wait . . . This just came in my Google reader and is totally easier! No button holes! Take a look at the Drawstring Bag Tutorial from Skip to My Lou. All I can say is, duh, why didn't I think of that? You'll just need to adjust your size for your bottle.

1. Cut your fabric:
Width: Our water bottles are 9 1/2" around, so a 5 1/2" width seemed to work well (with 1/4" seams)
Length: Take the height of your bottle, multiply it by two, then add 7-8" for the casing and base
(for a 10 1/2" tall bottle, my length was 28 1/2; for a 7 1/2" tall bottle, my length was 22")

2. Make a small buttonhole centered 1 ¼” in at each narrow end of the fabric for your double-pull drawstring. (If you want just a regular single pull drawstring, just make one buttonhole at one narrow end of your fabric.)

3. Fold your fabric in half, right sides together.

4. Fold the folded end (the end without the buttonholes) up 1 ¼”. Press.

5. Add Strap (Optional)

1. If you want to add a strap to your water bottle cover, cut a 2 ½” x 45” piece for an adult (long) or a 2 ½” x 30” piece for a child (short) strap.
2. Fold strap in half lengthwise. Press. Stitch ¼” seam on one short end and the long side (I suggest stitching one short end to make turning the strap easier). Turn. Press.
3. Place strap inside your pressed and unseamed water bottle cover. Put one of the strap ends right above the bottom folded end of your cover. Put the other end 1” below your buttonhole. Secure the strap with pins.

6. Stitch side seams ¼”.

If you made a strap, reinforce the strap areas by backstitching over the strap. Zigzag the entire edge. Push the U-shaped part of the strap into the water bottle cover so you can seam the remaining side. Seam again at ¼”, then zigzag the edge.

7. Turn right side out. Press button hole end raw edges down ¼”, then again ½” (or enough to form casing below your pre-sewn buttonholes. Stitch casing closed all the way around.

8. Cut buttonholes open.

9. Thread your string/yarn: To make a drawstring you can pull from each side, thread the yarn, attached to a small safety pin, all the way around one time. Pull the yarn out through your starting buttonhole far enough to go all the way around again, plus 4”. Thread the yarn again to the second buttonhole, but this time, pull the safety pin and yarn out through the hole. Then re-insert your safety pin and thread back to starting buttonhole leaving about 2 inches of yarn hanging out at the last buttonhole. At the starting buttonhole, clip yarn a couple inches away and tie a knot.

For a printable PDF of this pattern, click here.