Cute and Functional DIY Hand Sanitizer Holder

Hand sanitizer could easily be the symbol for 2020, but you don’t have to lug around giant bottles of Purell or hope that the well-scented options don’t explode in your purse. Instead, create an easy to snap or strap-on hand sanitizer holder. They can clip right onto a purse strap, belt loop, stroller handle, backpack strap, and much more. Get really creative, cause hand sanitizer is here to stay so it might as well look good and be convenient!

Materials

Your materials might vary slightly depending on which "travel" size you pick up. Germ-X's travel size is about 4-inches tall, while Bath and Body Works travel size is about 2.5-inches tall but broader.

You’ll need:

• 2 - 2” x 18” fabric strips (this is for the larger size, for shorter bottles by 1 or 2 inches).
• 1 - button
• Embellishment for a side closure
• Button
• Rolled flower or ruffle
• Two strips of fabric (2 - 7” x 1.5” fabric strips)
• Fancy ribbon
• Fusible iron interfacing (aka Stitch Witchery)

Step One

Take the right sides of your fabric strips and place them facing each other. Pin and then sew, giving the strip a ¼-inch seam. Leave one end open, then turn and give the entire piece a good topstitch. 

Measure the strip around the hand sanitizer bottle you use most frequently, by placing one end of the strip against the center of the bottom of the container. Then wrap the strip around and mark where the fabric lays over the center of the lid.

Step Two

Create a 1.5-inch line over where the fabric hit the center of the lid. This will be your buttonhole for the cap of the bottle. Create a 1.5-inch buttonhole, but be aware that not every machine will have this size option. You might need to do the buttonhole without your buttonhole foot. It’s actually pretty easy.

Use a seam ripper to pop open the buttonhole.

Step Three

Step three has a few variances based on personal preference. You could use a ribbon, button, or velcro strip.

If you use a ribbon, then sew the ribbon’s length to the back of your fabric strip with an “X” and move on to the next step.

If you use a button, then you’ll need your two other strips of fabric. These two fabric strips should measure 7” x 1.5”, just sew those together, right sides facing, and leave the end open for turning. Then do exactly what you did before, trim up the corner, turn, iron, and topstitch. Make a buttonhole again, just big enough for the button of your choice.

If you use a velcro strip, follow the exact directions for adding a button, but sew on velcro pieces to the ends of the strip, so they interlock nicely.

For using a velcro strap or a button, lay the strip down where you need it to rest over your hand sanitizer bottle and sew it into place with a neat line of stitches. You can get extra fancy with embellishments, so it doesn’t just look like a strip of fabric.

Step Four

Put the bottle into the buttonhole and measure it up again to determine where you’ll sew the fabric strip together to encase your hand sanitizer. Give about a 1/2-inch extra fabric and use one line of stitches to sew the fabric together, creating a snug but comfortable fitting strap around your bottle.

Step Five

Sew another buttonhole around the end of the fabric strip that isn’t holding your bottle into place. Then sew the button into place where you can comfortably loop the strap around anything such as a door handle, diaper bag strap, or whatnot.

Ta-Da! You now have fantastic hand sanitizer holders that you can make specifically to match your purse or anything else you might secure them onto. The great thing is, it’s a quick and high-useful way to blow through a lot of scrap material!