Project introduction
This overview looks at the Moustache Coffee Sleeves, an original crochet design by Stephanie Lau of All About Ami. She made the sleeves as giveaway items for a High Tea fundraiser held for the Taiwan Xi En Orphanage, and the moustache theme suited the timing because the event fell during Movember. When she went looking for a pattern to follow, she could not find a simple sleeve worked in the round with the tapered shape she had in mind, so she wrote her own and shared it.
To judge the size, she brought home a cardboard sleeve from Starbucks and used it to roughly estimate width and height. Cardboard does not stretch, while yarn has more give and will stretch, so the crochet sleeve had to be made more snug to leave some leeway. Without that allowance it would have been too big and might have sagged down. The tapered shape matters too, because it helps the sleeve stay on the cup.
The first sleeve was crocheted in cotton from her yarn stash. A second version in hemp followed, an idea from Ryan, since the material would give the sleeve an organic look and the colour matched the original Starbucks sleeve. Hemp is much thicker than cotton, so the original pattern needed adjustments. Working with hemp was hard on the hands, but the result is hardier than the cotton sleeve, less likely to fuzz up and probably less likely to get dirty as easily.
Rather than writing a moustache pattern, she used a free Red Heart pattern designed for their Mug Hug. The moustaches are quick to crochet and hold a good shape. They were sewn onto the sleeves with black embroidery floss, and the curves need to be shaped and curved as you sew so the result reads as a moustache rather than a squiggle or a line. The finished sleeves were tried on coffee cups of varying sizes and fit perfectly.
One small note from the designer: “mustache” is the U.S. spelling, while “moustache” is the spelling used in the main varieties of English outside the U.S.
Pattern format and preparation
Before you begin, gather the supplies the source lists for the two sleeve variations. Both use a 4 mm crochet hook and are worked in continuous rounds rather than joined rounds, so there is no seam. The moustache yarn thickness and hook size are chosen according to the size of moustache you want, and the applique is sewn on with black embroidery floss.
- Cotton sleeve: medium (4) cotton yarn in the colour you want, plus a 4 mm crochet hook.
- Hemp sleeve: hemp, plus a 4 mm crochet hook.
- Cotton sleeve moustache: lightweight (3) mercerized cotton and a 4 mm crochet hook.
- Hemp sleeve moustache: medium (4) worsted weight acrylic cotton and a 4 mm crochet hook.
- Finishing: black embroidery floss for sewing the moustache onto the sleeve.
Both sleeves start the same way: chain, then join the first and last stitches to form a ring, being careful not to twist the stitches. The cotton sleeve begins with a chain of 35 and uses single crochet rounds with decrease rounds to taper the shape, then fastens off with the end woven in. The hemp sleeve begins with a chain of 30 and follows the same approach, with its own single crochet and decrease rounds before fastening off. The exact round-by-round details live with the designer, so follow the Original designer’s pattern and instructions for those.
Once the sleeve is done, crochet the moustache from the free Red Heart pattern and attach it to the front. The sleeves are simple enough to personalize, and the designer points to a Moogly roundup of free edging patterns if you want to add an edging at the top and bottom. If moustaches are not your thing, Crochet Pattern Central has a large roundup of free crochet appliques, and she also highlighted a few favourites: cupcakes by Janet of Damn it Janet, Let’s Crochet, plus a snowman, mouse heads and owls by other designers.
The sleeves keep your fingers from getting burned and are described as extremely quick to make. They also work as gifts for friends at Christmas or for Movember. For a related project, see the Tunisian Knit Bow Coffee Sleeve: Pattern Overview.
