I have been asked for this many times. If you don't want to bother making your own, you can certainly purchase one from my site at www.etsy.com/people/OneDivaThreeDolls or visit me on facebook at www.facebook.com/OneDivaThreeDolls. BUT if you are a DIY kinda gal, here is your very own tutorial. By the way, Bestie says this is not Sewing for Dummies, but Sewing for Non-Sewers. She's no dummy, believe me! And she is helping me with this tutorial, so beware of non-sequitors!
We start with two standard bottles of hand sanitizer. If you're like me and save these kinds of things to refill again and again, this is a great way to spruce yours up and you can make one for each holiday/season as well. This makes a great Scrap Buster and can, of course, be made with one fat quarter if you choose. That being said, here are the materials needed...
1 bottle of hand sanitizer
1 piece outside fabric 10"x 4 1/2"
1 piece inside fabric 10" x 4 1/2"
1 piece interfacing 10" x 4 1/2"
(I used fusible fleece, but you can use anything from that to
an extra piece of canvas or duck scrap. you just need
something to give it a little more "oomph")
1 button
1 piece of elastic 3"
(you can cut a hair elastic in half to use here too)
needle and thread
straight pins
sewing machine
ruler or measuring grid
scissors or rotary cutter and mat
(you do NOT need a rotary cutter and mat for this
so do not feel as if you need to go out and buy one)
and, because Bestie has had too much caffeine, 1 chapstick (but I have NO idea why)
So we begin with the hand sanitizer bottles. By the way, this is a great way to present your child's teacher with the requisite bottle of hand sanitizer at the beginning of the school year. She will thank you all year long!
Iron your fusible fleece to the back of your outside fabric. Follow the instructions for your brand. If you are not using a fusible fabric, when you get to pinning, lay your pieces in the following order: stabilizer, outside fabric (right side up), then lining fabric (right side down).
Mark an "x" with a sharp pencil at 2 1/4 inches in and 2 1/4 inches down so you have a good button placement. This will give you a variety of bottle widths to cover as well.
Here's a button sewing tip I learned from a skilled seamstress friend of mine. When sewing buttons, fold your thread in half and thread BOTH ends into the needle. This will quadruple the thread when sewing and your buttons will go on much faster and be much sturdier for much longer. Also much simpler when you are doing several of these for gifts (last year for Christmas, I made 20 of these).
Sew on the button. That's all I got. Bestie says if you don't know how to sew the button just go the etsy shop and buy one cause you're in trouble already.
Pin outside and inside fabrics right sides together. If you did not use fusible interfacing, refer to the note above on fabric positioning.
Stitch around the outside leaving a two inch gap on the end OPPOSITE the buton for turning and inserting the elastic.
After sewing, clip the corners so that they lay flat when you turn it. This makes a huge difference when you are topstitching.
Turn the cozy right side out through the little opening at the end. I often read tutorials where people are told to use a dull pencil to poke the corners out, but I have always wondered, "How dull is dull?" I mean, depending on your definition of dull, it could run anywhere from slightly ditzy to completely stupid and slightly ditzy will ruin your new stitches whereas completely stupid may not make your corners sharp enough. (You'll get that tomorrow) I use a chopstick. It's just easier all around.
Once you have your cozy right side out, give it a good once over with the iron. This will flatten down all of your edges and make topstitching easier (Bestie says not to iron the button, it will melt. I'm not sure if she speaks from personal experience or not, but again, if you don't know better than to iron the button, you might need to refer again to the etsy link.)
Since I buy elastic in bulk, I don't use hair elastics, but you can do that just as easily and it gives you a greater variety in color. Here you can see my elastic is about 3" long and folded in half to insert into the open end of the cozy. 
I have a tendency to eyeball things, and sometimes they are good and sometimes...well, not so much, so to be sure I have the elastic lined up with the button properly I always double check the button placement against it by accordion folding the cozy back on itself so that I can tell if the elastic is going to meet the button.
Topstitch around the entire cozy. I do NOT backstitch at the beginning of my sewing here because I feel I have a tendency to overdo it and my bobbin thread gets tangled. So be SURE you backstitch when your stitches get around to meet each other again. Snip your threads, cause you are done!!!
TA DA!!! Your child's teacher will love you for making one of these for their classroom. You will love having one in your home and office and so will all of those people you make them for as gifts!
****As a fellow idea searcher, I am often looking for ideas for things to add to my shop. If you are a shop and would like to make these cozies to sell, please feel free to do so, but respect my creativity by giving credit to One Diva Three Dolls and/or the Diva Mommy Diaries! Thanks and enjoy!!!
By the way, this is my first "real" tutorial. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to post them. Did I have too many pictures? Did I feed Bestie too much caffeine (she was my photographer, after all)? Are any of my instructions or terms unclear? How many of these are you gonna go make? :)
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