Ok, so this week I’ve heard that some people are interested in crafting insulative beverage holders- or “koozies”, as they are scientifically known- from old wetsuit neoprene.
While there are a lot of different patterns available on the internet for standard koozies, I haven’t seen any for super-sized adult beverages, such as a Foster’s. I can’t stand beer personally, but I love this picture of Kelly Slater slamming a Foster’s after he won his 8th World Title. Maybe, he could’ve used a koozie to keep the beer cold…

Ke11y and his Foster’s during his 8th World Title

First, I acquired a can of Foster’s to use for measurements:

Measuring height

The height of the can from the bottom to the top lip is about 5 1/2″. Next, I traced the can’s bottom onto some paper.

Tracing the inside bottom

I took a compass to estimate the radius of the can inner bottom you can do this around the outer edge instead, if you’d rather:

Taking a measurement from the tracing

From here, I could draw up measurements. The can bottom is 1 and 5/16″ in radius, the width of one side of the koozie is 5 and 1/4″, and the height of each side will be 5 and 1/2″ tall:

Dimensions laid out on paper

Now, to give you a better idea of how this pattern will be cut, I’m going to cut out the shape of the paper, cutting around the circle, but not all the way- you want to keep a bit of each side of the circle attached to each side. Cutting out the pattern will look like this (keep in mind that the height of each side should be 5 and 1/2″, but I was constrained by the 8 1/2″ by 11″ sheet of paper I used):

Pattern cut out

Next, you can trace this pattern onto your neoprene scrap using chalk, or you can staple the pattern to the neoprene and cut out around the pattern.

Neoprene cut out

Before I sew up each side, I’m going to add a little clear window to put a message, name, or thought into on the side of the koozie. I used a folded over piece of clear heavy duty shipping tape- a piece of clear plastic, like a piece of shower curtain can be used too.

Tape I used for a window pocket

Cut a piece of folded over tape out, and cut out a little notch to take pieces of paper in and out

I sewed this window down on three sides by hand, leaving the top open using 4 lb test fishing line and a heavy embroidery needle.

Window sewed down, bubbles in the tape are not a big deal, they won’t show on the paper.

Next, I whipstitched the sides together with the same fishing line, making sure the edges are lined up. I didn’t have enough neoprene to reach the full can height, but it’s still pretty tall.
Here it is finished, with a fun message inside:

Classier than those wine tags, right?