For My Valentine

I made my sweetie (my husband) a surprise for Valentine's Day.  Can you guess what it is?

If you guessed a beer hat you are wrong, but you think like my husband when he's trying to figure out what the oddly-shaped mass of fabric I handed him might be.  If you guessed slipcover for his plastic beer-making keg, you are correct!

He was totally stumped until I put it on!

When I was buying the sock monkey fabric I just had to have, I got suckered into buying extra fabric so I could have free shipping. I know, it makes no sense to spend more to save a little, but I was weak.  I bought this fabric along with two prints to make decor for my honey's garage, should he ever finish cleaning/organizing it.  My husband keeps his plastic beer keg on our counter for a few weeks at a time while it's brewing--or whatever it does--and I thought the beer themed print (complete with "be a man" bottlecaps) would be perfect, especially since the colors coordinated with our kitchen.

Sorry Mr. Beer, I don't want to see you in my kitchen

My quickie project ended up including 4 panels, a bound circle cutout and a spigot slit, so I found myself sewing until my husband pulled into the driveway yesterday (literally).  I wanted the images to be right side up, so I had to split the main body into two pieces.  I wanted it to have a more fitted shape, so I cut panels out for the side pieces.  I didn't notice that I needed room for the spigot until I was almost done, so I cut a slit and folded the fabric back to make it work.  I am mostly pleased with the results.  I knew the elastic would snug up the bottom some, but I'd like to add another 1/2" or so to the length when I make another one.  That's right, I have two plastic kegs to contend with.

Here's a closeup of the binding on the cutout:

I was going to cover the lid up, but found out that
it contains a way for the keg to vent

 

I used a similar method to what patterns have called for when I've made sleeveless dresses for Danielle:  I stitched bias tape (actually, some twill tape) to the edge, right sides together, folded it to the underside and then topstitched, catching the bias in place.  It was less fussy than I thought it would be.  Apparently plastic beer keg tops are significantly bigger than my child's arm.  In case you were wondering.