Felted Hot Water Bottle Cover Tutorial

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I know I did...some relaxing, some celebrating milestones with friends and family, and even some crafting. I finally created the felted hot-water bottle I'd been dreaming of for oh-so-long, and if I do say so myself, it is my chef d'oeuvre to date! I have a semi-tutorial to share with you, but I must admit, by the end I was concentrating so hard, I didn't even take a single picture...try to follow along if you're so inclined.

Felted Water Bottle "Tutorial"

You will need:
- a hot water bottle
- an old sweater that you have felted (see tutorial on that here)
- old newspaper
- pins
- sharpie
- scissors
- sewing machine

Plain and hideous...


Looks Promising...


Trace the whole bottle on the newspaper using the sharpie:




Carefully cut up the sweater, along the seams is best. It shouldn't fray if it's properly felted.


Cut out the pattern and fold it in half length-wise so it's symmetrical ("hot dog fold" is the technical term, I believe) then fold the fabric in half and ensure the folded seams of the fabric and the pattern are on the same side. Pin the pattern to the fabric:


Cut it all out:


This piece will be the front of the cover. If you are cutting the neck out, be sure to include that in your pattern, I decided to get clever and reuse the neck of the sweater for the bottleneck. The technique I used was confusing as anything, so I recommend you just keep it simple and cut it out as part of your pattern.

To do the envelopment back, as I did, use the pre-fabbed sweater hem to make your job easier. Fold the pattern in half and cut it out for the inside envelopment fold.



For the outside, fold the same pattern into a 3/4 fold, and be sure to trace the bottle neck on the top of this piece (this will be the outside fold)


Topstitch a hem on the neck of the bottle on both the front and the back (no pic, sorry)

Pin the whole shebang together, right sides facing. Whichever of the back pieces you want to be the outside portion of the envelope fold should be on the inside now:


Stitch around the outside of the bottle holder and turn right-side out. Be sure not to sew to top of the bottle neck shut!!

You are finished! Enjoy!

from the front:


and from the back:

I can't wait to snuggle up to this lovely during the impending snowstorms this winter!

Comment if you have any specific questions. I'll do my best to help!