DIY Leather Sleeve For Coffee-To-Go Mug // Ledermanschette für Coffee-to-go Becher

[Post sponsored by Volkswagen.]

No trip without a fresh coffee-to-go! Even though today many paper cups and sleeves are made of recycled materials, they still produce an enormous amount of garbage and waste our resources. A reusable porcelain mug with a self-made leather sleeve won’t save the world but looks pretty stylish.

Kein Ausflug ohne einen Becher frischen Kaffee zum Mitnehmen! Auch wenn inzwischen einige der Pappbecher und Bechermanschetten aus recycelten Materialien bestehen, produzieren sie dennoch Unmengen an Müll und verschwenden unsere Ressourcen. Ein wiederverwendbarer Porzellanbecher mit selbstgemachter Ledermanschette rettet zwar nicht gleich die Welt, sieht dafür aber ziemlich stylisch aus.

Materials & tools:

Material & Werkzeug:

• leather approx. 30 x 10 cm, preferably 2-3 mm thick and unprocessed cowhide
• 50 cm waxed cotton thread, Ø 1mm
• letter steel stamps from 4 mm height
• hammer
• awl to pre-pierce holes
• leather needle
• ballpen
• scissors
• masking tape
• reusable coffee-to-go mug, e.g. made of porcelain

• Leder ca. 30 x 10 cm, am besten 2-3 mm dickes und unbehandeltes Rindsleder
• 50 cm gewachstes Baumwollgarn, Ø 1 mm
• Schlagbuchstaben ab 4 mm Höhe
• Hammer
• Ahle zum Vorstechen der Löcher
• Ledernadel
• Kugelschreiber
• Schere
• Masking Tape oder Malerkrepp
• wiederverwendbarer Coffee-to-go Becher, z.B. aus Porzellan

Instructions:

Download the PDF-template here, cut it out and copy it on the back of the leather.

Anleitung:

PDF-Vorlage hier herunterladen, ausschneiden und auf die Rückseite des Leders übertragen.

Copy the holes of the template directly in the leather with the help of the awl. In order to pierce the leather deep enough, put some old papers under it. The better the holes are pre-pierced, the easier it is to stitch the leather later on.

Mark the middle of your leather with a piece of masking tape (the small upper strip). Add another long strip below the spot where you want to stamp the letters. The horizontal line helps you to write evenly. In order to keep the same distance between the letters, you can use a ruler and pen to mark the spots on the tape.

Different kinds and thicknesses of leather require different handling when using the letter steel stamps with a hammer. Try on an extra piece of leather before starting on the actual one. Now stamp the text in the leather: put the leather on a solid, steady ground, set the steel stamp in an upright position and hit it once powerfully with the hammer.

• Damp the leather with a bit of water. That way it gets softer and is easier to handle.
• Use a very solid wooden board as a ground. Even better: stone or metal boards.
• If the letter isn’t stamped deep enough, reposition the steel stamp and hit it again.

• Feuchte das Leder mit etwas Wasser an, so wird es weicher und benötigt weniger Schlagkraft.
• Nutze ein sehr festes Holzbrett als Unterlage, noch besser: eine Stein- oder Metallplatte.
• Ist der Buchstabe nicht tief genug eingeprägt, den Stempel vorsichtig erneut aufsetzen und kräftig auf den Stempel schlagen.

Now close the sleeve with the needle and thread. Waxed cotton thread is available in different colours, slides better through leather and is more durable. Put the thread through the first hole, where an approximately 5 cm long end of the thread will be left over. You don’t have to fasten it with a knot yet. First, stitch diagonally from the bottom up and leave out every second hole.

When you reach the top, it should look just like on this picture.

Now stitch the remaining holes from top to bottom, which results in cross stitches.

When you reach the edge, knot the threads together. Additionally, you can thread the ends through the cross stitches and finally cut them. Like that there you won’t see any annoying thread ends on the outside.

You’re functional and hip coffee mug accessory is done! The best thing about it: in case you can’t avoid using a paper cup once in a while, you can even use the leather sleeve for that cup and it’ll keep your fingers from getting burned.

Want more DIY ideas? Check out the collaborative Pinterest board “DIY bloggers for Volkswagen” to find creative ideas from different bloggers about the topics Cars & Volkswagen!

Lust auf weitere DIY-Ideen? Schau doch mal auf dem Pinterest-Gemeinschaftsboard von Volkswagen vorbei, dort gibt es viele kreative Beiträge verschiedener Blogger zum Thema Auto & Volkswagen!