eco-friendly coffee cozies

You know those little cardboard sleeves that provide insulation between your hand and that hot cup of coffee? Well, I recently saw a tutorial on how to make re-usable quilted coffee cozies, and figured since I know quite a few individuals (including myself) who frequent Starbucks and the like, I might as well try my hand at making some of the useful, not to mention "green," little things. The coffee cozies were originally going to be Christmas presents, but then my sewing plans became overwhelming (see previous post). So if you were expecting a gift from me and one never materialized, you can pretty much count on getting one of these in the near future:


Here's a close-up. I had fun trying my hand at embroidery... the cross-stitch-esque squares of the gingham certainly helped with the letter-forming.
Here's another shot of the inner fabric (I guess technically it's reversible), with a view of the quilting (done by hand -- a first for me!).

Here are a couple more that I worked on today. They're matching "his" and "hers" cozies for a married pair of Starbucks aficionados that I know.

A closer view.
So hopefully a few trees will be saved because of these (though I admit that the most environmentally-friendly option would be to bring one's own thermos or mug and forgo the paper cup altogether)... and I'll have something to keep me busy for the rest of the Christmas holiday!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2008!