Water Bottle Carriers

Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm

I found this really neat tutorial for a water bottle carrier. My hubby has several health problems and is on a lot of different medications. We’ve found out the hard way that he gets dehydrated very easily, especially in hot weather. So I usually try to carry a water bottle with me when we go anyplace, but it gets old, having to hang onto a water bottle. So when I found this tutorial, I thought, how cool is this?

The tutorial calls for Insulbrite, which is an insulated batting that helps to keep your water cold. I looked for it locally but could only find it packaged in a one-yard length for $7.50. Ouch. I checked out The Warm Company, which makes Insulbrite, but $100 worth of Insulbrite is a lot more than I can use right now. Maybe eventually, if my business takes off, but not now!

So I continued looking online, and found Quilt-Kits Online selling Insulbrite for $2.45 a yard. Much better! They’re lovely people to deal with; I had some trouble with their shopping cart and emailed them. It turned out to be my problem as I had downloaded a browser update that morning, but he helped me get my order through so I could pay for it with Paypal. The order was filled very quickly, so I highly recommend them if you’re looking for reasonably-priced Insulbrite (or anything else for that matter).

I followed the tutorial and learned that you definitely do have to cut your material a little bigger than you would think. The batting makes it smaller. My first water bottle carrier is a bit of a snug fit for a 20-oz water bottle, although it’s quite usable. I tried it out when we went to an outdoor show, and it does keep your water bottle cold.

For some reason I didn’t take a picture of my first effort, and it’s now residing in Minnesota at my daughter’s house. I made it from purple and green fabric strips and lined it with some bright green fabric I had. It really did come out cute. My daughter liked it so well that she immediately wanted me to make two more for my two older grandsons.

The boys picked out the material they wanted from their mom’s stash, and granny did the rest. The brown material is a treasure map, and of course, all pirates have to have some skulls and crossbones around! The one on the left is lined with red, and the other is lined with the skull material.

I thought about shortening up the straps, but my daughter and I decided she could just tie a knot in them to get them to the right length for each boy. They’re growing so fast that we don’t want them to outgrow them. This way, they’ll be adjustable as the boys get taller.

The picture on the right shows the red lining in the one bottle.

I changed the pattern a little. I didn’t like having the bottom as a separate piece. I thought it was too hard to sew it on. So I added it to the bottom as a flap. This took a little playing around with a paper pattern to figure out how to do it. Then I made one up in muslin to see how it worked.

I also changed how it was constructed. I layered the lining and outside, right sides together, along with the insulbrite. Then I sewed along the sides and top, leaving the bottom open to turn it. This is where you sew on the handles, too.

I ran a couple of lines of zigzag quilting across it, using my walking foot. I also found that it was was helpful to zigzag across the bottom and the bottom flap so the material and batting don’t shift. It also makes it much easier to sew the bottom flap on later, plus it gives it a finished edge.

I left the walking foot on and sewed the tube together up the side, using a scant 1/4″ seam. This leaves a nice finished seam on the inside. The last step is to sew the bottom flap onto the tube. It was a lot easier to sew this seam as it was already attached about a third of the way around.

The boys will be thrilled, and their mama will be happy they can carry their own water bottles! Now I need to make a pair for my hubby and me. I think I’ll make Andrew’s out of camoflage material so he won’t mind carrying it. Maybe I can find some USMC material!