A mug rug / coffee cup cozy you can make and give for Christmas gifts, or any time of the year.  Get my free pattern below and have fun!

A Corky Cup Christmas

Corky Cups are reusable plastic cups that use the natural thermal insulation ability of cork. The cup is eco-friendly and has a screw-on lid with spill-proof silicone seal for leak resistance.  They sell for $5 to $7 each, depending on where you buy them.

I caught the Corky Cup on an amazing sale in September at of all places, Menards.  If you don’t have one of these hardware superstores in your area, you are most likely snickering at the name right now.  They compete with other big box hardware-type stores, like Home Depot or Lowes.  My husband loves Menards (stop snickering) and goes as often as possible (seriously, I see you there, stop snickering).  In September, they featured the Corky Cup at an unbelievable price compared to Walmart or Amazon, so I stocked up. The product description says the cork stays cool to the touch, but I decided to make personalized mug rugs for them, and give them as office gifts during the winter holidays (shhhh, no telling).  Here is my coffee cozy adaptation and pattern so you can make your very own.

This project is super easy and scrap-friendly.  You will need:

• two coordinating fabric pieces, at least 11″ x 6.5″
• a piece of fusible fleece, Pellon Thermolam, Insulbrite insulated batting or cotton batting of the same size*
• a piece of Pellon Shape-Flex of the same size (optional)
• a cute button
• a hair elastic in the color of your choice (I bought my elastics 30 black on a card at the dollar store, but they have smaller quantities in bright colors too)
• My Coffee Cozy Pattern

The pattern includes markings for centered visual straight lines so you can machine embroider or applique yours, as I will for holiday gifts.

*If you’re not using fusible fleece or Thermolam, you’ll need to quilt your outside fabric so the batting doesn’t shift inside the finished cozy.

The quick instructions are:

1. Start by printing the Coffee Cozy Pattern at 100%.  Cut out your fabric and fleece and start assembling.
2. Fuse the fleece or Thermolam to the wrong side of the outside fabric (or quilt as needed, like I did for my sample here).  Optionally, if you choose to give your project a little extra stability, fuse the Shape-Flex to the wrong side of the inside fabric.
3. Place your front and back fabric pieces, right sides together, and position your hair elastic as noted on the pattern.
   

   Here’s the fiddly part about these elastics — if you look at them, they’re not a continuous loop.  They have been fused together.  Since this is a weak point, make sure this part winds up inside, between the two layers of fabric when you sew it down.

4. Stitch together the front and back pieces, right sides together, leaving an opening on the bottom edge, about 2″ in length to turn.
5. Clip the corners and trim the seams.
6. Turn the cozy right sides out through the hole you left.  Poke out the corners, and press, turning under the seam allowances on the front and back pieces in the opening you left.
7. Top stitch the finished piece, closing the opening.  Stitch close to the edge.
8. Wrap your project around a cup, pull the elastic taut but not too tight and mark for button placement.  Sew on the button and you’re done!

And the best part?  It fits those Starbucks® cups we all love.  Mmmm, Chai Tea Latte.