How To: Sippy Cup Strap

Our little princess is just that...a princess and at 1 she's still learning that she's not supposed to just throw something down when she's done with it so in an attempt to save ourselves the hassle of constantly having to rinse off or possibly losing a sippy cup altogether (those things aren't cheap), I made a sippy cup strap. It's super easy...

Here's what you'll need...

Ribbon. (I used less than two feet)

Elastic. (I used about 4 inches)

Velcro. (I used a 1 1/2 inch strip)

And of course a sewing machine with thread.

Everything I used was in my craft bin from an earlier project so it didn't cost me anything but if you had to buy everything (apart from the sewing machine and thread) it would cost you about $5-10 and you'll have plenty of extra supplies for another project down the road.

Step 1:

Determine the amount of elastic you'll need for the specific style of sippy cup you're working with.

Step 2:

Pinning. 

Pin the top. 

(I left a little room at the top of the thread so that when I connected the two ends of the elastic it have a nicer edge)

And then stretch the elastic all the way out and pin the bottom of the elastic to the ribbon.

Finally, with the elastic still stretched, pin the middle.

(it will make sewing a little easier)

Step 3:

Sewing the elastic to the ribbon.

Make sure your machine needle is dropped down BEFORE you remove or relocate the top pin to sew or the elastic will snap back.

Once your machine needle is in place and you are ready to begin sewing, keep one hand at the top pulling the ribbon and elastic and one hand at the bottom of the elastic and ribbon keeping the elastic taught so that it doesn't shift around.

This is what it will look like after you've sewn down one side:

(you can opt to sew only down the middle...I decided to do each side of the elastic because I like the visual effect of it better and because that's just that much more reinforced)

Repeat on the left (if you started on the right side of the elastic as I did...or visa versa), remembering to drop the machine needle BEFORE removing the top pin and when you have both sides sewn, it should look like this:

Step 4:

The elastic ends.

Wrap you ribbon-attached elastic around the sippy cup again and double check the length. You'll probably find that because of the ribbon stitching, the elastic is now longer than when you first measured so you may have to adjust for that by overlapping some of the elastic when you sew the ends of the elastic together.

Step 5:

Length of the strap and velcro.

Put your sippy cup with the elastic/ribbon circle around it inside the snack tray of your stroller and determine the length of your ribbon. Don't forget to double check that it can reach the baby's mouth but not hit the ground. 

(since we have a double stroller, I checked the length on both seats as our Princess rides in both)

Then, simply attach the velcro to one side, wrap it as snugly as you want (I like it a little loose so it wears on the ribbon a little less) around the stroller or snack tray bar and attach the second side of the velcro.

Voila. 

A sippy cup strap...makes life simpler.