Then I took seven strips 5 1/2" x 19" and sewed them together along the 19" edge using a 1/4" seam. I pressed the seams to one side. Before connecting them to make the "tube" I folded the bottom edge 1" and then folded it another 1" and pressed it. This is the pocket to insert the elastic into at the end.
Then I top stitched along both edges of the elastic pocket to give it a nice finished edge.
The I sewed the outside pieces together to form the "tube" that will fit over the bottle (right sides together). I stopped the seam before going over the elastic pocket, as we'll need to insert the elastic last.
Then I took it upstairs and the water bottle had it's final fitting. I found it waaaay easier to pin the round top piece on this way than flopping it around on my lap and trying to get it to lay right.
I started on one side, and then jumped across to the opposite side and pinned at each of the seams between the seven sections. (Getting the top piece on was the hardest part of this project).
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Then I pinned the hell out of it, so I wouldn't get any bunching!!! (If you know me at all you'd know how much I hate bunching and puckering).
So once I had it pinned completely, I took it downstairs and sewed the top on, using a 3/4" seam, only because I measured the top a little big to give myself room (better too big than too small, and it's hard to measure as the bottle has a rounded top. Or bottom. Depending on which way you look at it.) You can tell by where the pins are where the seam needs to be.
This is almost done! I love how the material is so crisp, it stands on it's own! I didn't use a lining or interfacing either.
Then I took a safety pin and clipped it to a 14" length of elastic to work the elastic into the pocket at the bottom of the cover (where we left the opening earlier.) AND!! because we pressed the seams all one direction, if you pick correctly you won't have to fight the seams with the safety pin. Don't you love it when it all works out. I had thought about pressing them open but am glad I didn't because the pin slid right past all the seams this way. Then I sewed the elastic together at the end.
Then I pulled the elastic in, and it sits in the right spot to just fold that seam over and finish sewing it shut. So I started where I left off and sewed to the edge of the 1" pocket that we left open.
It looks good! I used 14" because I stretched out the elastic to the longest it would go to reach 35" around so it would go over the top of the bottle, and when the elastic was relaxed it was 14".
Kind of looks like a deflated hot air balloon now. It's totally done...are you ready?? Wait for it...wait for it...
Okay, now I forgot to take a before picture of my cooler and my bottle was almost empty so it moved a lot getting the cover on... so just pretend this plain old water bottle is sitting on my cooler. I already flipped it over for you to help with the image hehe.
So here it is!! Doesn't it look cute?? I love these colors and the cherries and apple dots are so nice for in the kitchen. My walls are yellow too so these colors all match my upstairs nicely.
This is the top view, it sewed together quite nicely with minimal puckering. I am so happy with the way it turned out!
And if I get bored I can just turn the cover, as it has seven different sections, and I can have a little different look for a while. I know I'm a total nerd for loving this so much, but I do! The only drawback is I can't see how much water is left, but I can tell from the sound of the water that it's getting empty, and I would much rather look at this pretty fabric than the water level in the ugly old water bottle.
