DIY Reusable Coffee Cup Sleeve (from a Cut-Off Jeans Leg!)

I have, in my possession, a very lousy reusable coffee cup.

I also have, in my possession, some leftover cut off pant legs from my recent double-waisted jeans refashion.

I scored this cup from a pop-up coffee shop sponsored by Bumble (yes, the dating app) during SXSW a couple of years ago.

Every morning, they gave conference attendees a free coffee and breakfast taco. My freebie-loving frugal self is filled with warm waves of nostalgia every time I look at it.

Also, Mr. Refashionista and I met on Bumble, so there’s that.

Unfortunately, my coffee cup is made of incredibly thin, uninsulated plastic.

Every time I filled my cup with coffee or tea for a stroll around the neighborhood or to run an errand, I cringed…knowing my hands were about to suffer from the scalding hot liquid inside.

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Time to make a reusable coffee cup sleeve from those leftover jeans scraps!

Yes, I could just get an insulated mug, but what’s the fun in that?

To get started, I turned one of my leftover jeans leg scraps inside-out, turned the frayed edge over, and pressed it down.

Then, I secured the fold with my sewing clips.

I stitched it down using a zigzag stitch to keep it from fraying.

When I was done, it looked like this.

With my future coffee sleeve still turned inside-out, I “fitted” it to my coffee cup using my sewing clips.

You can see I’m keeping the original seams on my sleeve and adding two more, rather than clipping along the existing seams.

This is for two reasons. One, I think it looks cool. Two, it’ll be easier for my sewing machine to sew through two layers of thick denim rather than four.

I carefully slipped my sleeve off of my cup.

I stitched each side of my sleeve down.

Then, I trimmed off the excess fabric with my pinking shears.

I turned my new reusable coffee cup sleeve right-side-out and was done!

But was the denim sleeve enough insulation to protect my delicate digits?

I had to find out!

I poured myself a hot cup of green tea…

…and grabbed it!

I love my new coffee cup sleeve!

It works great, and I think it really elevates the overall look of my very (very) cheap-looking coffee cup!

My current plan is to make another reusable sleeve from the other leg, and keep it in my car’s glove box so I have one on hand for when I get coffees to go!

Cheers!