Thursday, August 4, 2011

Sewing a Kindle Cover


One of our recent acquisitions for homeschooling is a kindle. There are several books we are planning to use for school this year and in the next few that are available as free or nearly-free e-books. After weighing the cost both ways it was decidedly cheaper and more convenient to go with the kindle.


It doesn't hurt that this will also cut down on our purchase of physical books {you know- the ones we just don't have space for in this little tiny house}. What I needed next was a cover.




As most sewists do I have scrap material from projects and a bit of a fabric stash too. I dug in there and came out with a little bit of an older Alexander Henry lion print that I love along with a little bit of leftover quilt batting and muslin.


You will also need about 12 inches of bias tape to finish the top edge as well as a button and whatever you'd like to use as a button loop. I used about 4 inches of bias tape for my loop because that's what I had on hand at the time.



I cut all three layers to the same size. The kindle is about 7 1/2 inches by 5 inches so I cut my rectangle to 8 3/4 inches by 6 1/4 inches to account for seam allowance.




1. Sew together the muslin layers (or whatever you choose to use for lining.) on 3 sides, leaving one of the 614/" sides open. I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance and then trimmed the edges down. If you use a heavier fabric you can trim the corners down for less bulk, but I didn't have any problem with leaving mine untrimmed.




2. I embelished the outer fabric with beads and embroidery- you can do this step or not, but I like the extra special something it lends.




3. After embellishing the outer fabric I stacked one outer panel on top of one piece of batting and stitched them together around the outer edge. Do the same with the other outer panel and batting.


4. Place the outer panels together with right sides facing and sew them together on the left, right and bottom sides, leaving one of the 6 1/4" sides open like you did with the lining. Trim the bulk from the edges and corners and then turn your little bag right side out. I used a 3/8 inch seam allowance here.




5. Slide the lining inside the bag you just made out of the outer fabric and batting. Line up the seams and top edges (pin if necessary) and then stitch around the top edge. This stitching won't show when you're done- it's just to hold all the layers in place.




6. The next step is to make a loop for the button and to bind the top of your bag. I used a little bit of left over packaged bias tape but you can use anything you like. I cut a length for the loop that would fit around the button I wanted to use plus about 2 inches. Make sure when you place the loop that you place it on the inside of the bag and upside down like shown above, lining it up with where you'd like your button to go on the other side.


Pin the loop in place.




7. Cut another length of bias tape for the top binding with enough extra to be able to fold the raw ends under. pin it in place.




That will make a nice bound edge with that little loop sticking out of one side.




8. Attach your button to the side you'd like it placed on, and your loop should fit right around that button.




Slide your kindle in and admire your beautiful case!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this! I have a Nook and we're going to get Matt's mom one this year... so this will make a wonderful gift idea for Christmas since I'm starting to run out of ideas for them! Also, anything I can use as an excuse to make a trip to the fabric store... I'm on it!

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  2. this is absolutely gorgeous, ive never seen that fabric before

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