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Stash Busting and Upcycling Gift Idea You Can Sew in Just Minutes
- Nichole Jensen
- Mar 29
- 5 min read
I want to share a very easy beginner-friendly sewing project that makes a great gift because it is crazy useful. It’s called a jar gripper or jar opener, and it has a grippy, rubbery material on one side and fabric on the other and it makes opening stubborn jars, containers, and bottles so much easier. If a lid is on really on tight, you can use one gripper to hold the jar and one to turn the lid.
And they can be used outside the kitchen as well – think nail polish, wine bottles, or they can even be used as coasters.
These make a fantastic gift for house warmings, stocking stuffers at Christmas, and they are perfect for giving to seniors or anyone with arthritis or even small children who are learning how to open lids.
Plus, they’re a great stash buster and upcycle project because you don’t need much fabric to make them and while you can definitely make them with cotton woven fabric, you can also use old clothes and other cotton items too. I made jar grippers from t-shirts, baby clothes, jeans, and a cotton dish towel. Items with stains or that aren’t being worn anymore can have new life if you use them to make jar grippers!
Let's jump right in!
Watch a video tutorial:
Supplies:
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2 - 6 1/2 x 6 ½-inch squares of 100 percent cotton. You can use cotton woven fabric by the yard, an old t-shirt, baby clothes, a pair of jeans, a bedding sheet, or a cotton dish rag. You want to try to stick with 100 percent cotton although I have used some fabrics with a cotton/polyester blend
6 1/2 x 6 ½-inch square of non-slip shelf liner
Sewing machine
Matching or coordinating all-purpose thread
Ironing board
Sewing pins or clips
Optional:
Tissue paper (highly recommended)
OR
Iron-on interfacing – if you are using thinner cotton such as a t-shirt or baby clothes, or anything with a cotton/polyester blend which can be quite stretchy, it helps quite a bit to interface it. Cut the interfacing to 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches.
Turning tool for poking out the corners
Get Your Fabric Ready to Sew Jar Grippers:
Make sure to wash and fully dry your fabric before cutting. You want any and all shrinkage to happen before you sew it to the shelf liner.
Cut out your fabrics. If you have a design that is a littler larger, or smaller than the measurements I used, go for it and cut it in a way that works with your fabric.
It can be fun to “fussy cut” or cut out specific areas of your fabric. If you use a clear template like this one you can see exactly what you are cutting and center up the design.
If you are using thinner cotton from a t-shirt or baby clothes, or anything with a cotton/polyester blend which can be quite stretchy, now is the time to iron on some interfacing to the back of the fabric. This keeps it from stretching and helps give a little more oomph to floppy fabric.
Sew the Jar Gripper Fabric Pieces Together:
Time to get the fabric pieces ready to sew together. Make a fabric sandwich with your two pieces of cotton and the shelf liner. Place the front fabric (the one you want to be on the top) right side (pretty side) up, lay the shelf liner on top of that, and place the back outside fabric right side (pretty side) down on top of the other two. If there is a directional print on your fabric, make sure both the front and back pieces of cotton are facing the same direction.
Clip or pin the edges together and mark a 2-inch section that you won’t sew in the next step.
Sew around the outside of the fabrics with a ¼-inch seam allowance leaving that gap you marked unsewn.
Cut away the excess fabric at the corners with fabric scissors.
Finish Sewing a Jar Gripper:
Flip the whole thing right side out through the opening you left and use a pencil, turning tool, or chopstick to push all the corners out so they look pointy.
Use an iron to flatten the jar gripper out making sure to only iron on the cotton fabric, not the shelf liner. If there is a vinyl design on your fabric, say from a t-shirt, cover the design with a piece of parchment paper so it doesn’t melt while ironing either.
Fold the edges of the opening toward the inside ¼ inch so the edge lines up with the sewn section you just made and clip or pin it in place.
Since the shelf liner will be touching the sewing machine in the next step, there are a few options for preventing the grippy material from doing its thing and GRIPPING which won’t allow the material to move through the machine very well.
A walking foot works pretty well, or you can use a regular sewing foot and gently pull the fabric out the back of the machine while you sew.
The best option I found was to use tissue paper. Cut a piece of tissue paper about an inch larger on all sides than your fabric, so about 7 x 7 inches. This doesn’t have to be exact in any way and the edges don’t have to be perfectly straight. I cut a whole stack of tissue paper squares at once and just eyeball them.
Lay the jar gripper shelf liner side down in the center of the tissue paper and sew around the entire outside edge of the gripper 1/8-inch in from the edge. You will be sewing the tissue paper directly to the back of the jar gripper which will keep the material gliding through your sewing machine easy peasy.
This seam will close the opening you left and top stitch the rest of the gripper to hold the fabric in place.
If you want to make sure the fabrics don’t shift around, or if you used a cotton/polyester blend fabric which can be stretchier, you can stitch an X from one corner of the front to the other and repeat for the second set of corners. I don’t do this, but it’s an option if you want the extra stability.
To remove the tissue paper which is now sewn onto the back of your gripper, just rip it away. I rip the edges off first and pull toward the seam I just made and then then rip into the center of the tissue paper and pull off the rest. It rips away very easily and then you're finished!
If you need to wash the jar gripper, just throw it in a washing machine on a regular cycle, and dry with low heat.
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Happy crafting!