Happy Okapi Cup Cozy---Velcro edition

My lovely friend Reece finally came out with a pattern for her famous cup cozies.  I really wanted to try one, but alas I do not have Kam snaps.....I know I just never jumped on the band wagon....trust me I have plenty of other hardware though.

Happy Okapi Cup Cozy Pattern & Tutorial

I asked her if I could use reg snaps, and she said "well you can, but then it won't be reversible..."  Doh!!! ok, point taken.  So then I figured Velcro should work.  So I gave it a try, and I'm very happy to report that Velcro works wonderfully.   Here's how I went about it. 

On the holiday cup cozy, I put the Velcro on AFTER I finished stitching, and I used the same placement as in the original pattern, but just on the left hand side, on both sides.

Pros:  You can choose the exact placement of the Velcro to fit a particular cup.

Cons: If using contrasting thread, it can be tricky to not have it show on the other side.  even if you get your tension working perfectly, you will still see the box outline on the other side.  If this doesn't bother you (I think it looks just fine), then no worries.  If your using the same thread for both sides then it's easy peasy.

 As you can see here I marked on the pattern where to put the Velcro.  I crossed out the circles on the right, just ignore them.  All you need is the Velcro on the left on both pieces. 

 This one I sewed the Velcro to each piece first. 

Pro's:  *if using different thread for each piece, it's a lot easier to do it this way, and not worry about your threads bleeding through. 
          *It's easier on your machine then going through multiple layers
*You won't see the stitching on the back side. 

Cons:  It's harder to find the proper placement....I used the same marks as well, but forgot about the seam allowance.   That put the Velcro farther out, making the cup holder larger.  So you might need to adjust it depending on the cup you plan on using. but will have to figure that out prior to sewing it. 

My final tip is when sewing your end closed, make sure to press and topstich from the plain side, not the side with velcro, as this is how it'll sit when in use and will look neater.