Vino Sleeves: How to make a giftable wine bag out of old clothes

Guest post by Liz Gubernatis

Finished sleeve, tied with ribbon

A bottle of wine is a great gift for a lot of occasions. Maybe it’s a housewarming, a thank you, or a hostess gift. Maybe you want to dress up your wine ceremony bottle. Or maybe it’s just Tuesday.

Whether you’re toting your favorite bottle to a picnic in the park, a BYOB at a buddy’s or dressing up a gift, here are a couple ways to make a sleeve for your vino.

Materials and Tools

  • Sweater or pair of pants (child sized 5T used here)
  • Scissors
  • Yarn or ribbon
  • Needle and thread or sewing machine
  • Bottle of wine

Materials for Vino Sleeves

Procedure

Step 1: Measure sleeve or pant leg against bottle of wine. Mark length to cut.

Measuring the length of sleeve

Step 2: Cut sleeve or pant leg straight across at mark. Hem will be the top of your Vino Sleeve.

Step 3: Cut circle through both layers of remaining sleeve/leg about ½ inch larger than bottom of bottle. This will be the bottom of your Vino Sleeve.

Cutting circles for bottom

Step 4: Turn everything inside out. Match up the bottom of the sleeve or pant leg to the circles and pin in place.

Pinning together, inside out

Step 5: If you have a machine, go ahead and stitch around the circle. Using a zig zag stitch will add some security.

Stitching with zig-zag for good hold

If you don’t have a machine, use a ladder stitch or blanket stitch to secure the two. Remember this is going to hold a bottle of wine, so be patient and make two rows of stitching if you need to.

Step 5: Turn right side out and add your bottle of wine. Add a length of yarn or ribbon to tie the sleeve around the bottle, and you’re ready to go!

Finished sleeve, tied with ribbon

Applications:

As thank you gifts, this is a great way to dress up a bottle of favorite wine for favorite people.

You can also use these as centerpieces meant to be taken home or opened at the table and shared.

Also, this doesn’t have to be wine. You can wrap a bottle of liquor, use a wider leg pant for a two-liter of soda, even wrap a baby bottle.

Tips:

Children’s clothing is often the right size for this. You can use jeans, sweaters, corduroys, anything with enough heft to support the weight of a full bottle of wine.

You can also use a pair of pants that has a pocket to store a corkscrew, though you may have to cut differently and add a hem to the top.

You can embellish these with fabric markers or paints, adding messages or designs to make them unique.

Your Turn!

Will you be making a sleeve for your vino? Tell us how you’ll make this project your own in the comments below.

Comments on Vino Sleeves: How to make a giftable wine bag out of old clothes

  1. If the tube is too large, slip the wine into the sleeve (turned inside out,) then pin the fabric where a good fit is (keeping in mind that the seam will add bulk–for thicker fabrics, make sure the fit is a bit loose.) Sew straight up that line, then trim the excess fabric. Attach the bottom as normal. This will make a seam in it, but I don’t think anyone will mind too much.

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