How To: Make your Own Kindle Cover

This Christmas I happened to snag an Amazon Kindle... a purchase that I've been pondering for quite some time now, but hadn't quite committed to. I was thrilled with it once it was in hand, however, and decided that protecting my new toy was a must (I've seen the fate of electronics that go in and out of my purse without protective covering, after all). After looking online, however, I realized that I don't want to shell out $30 for a cover... and what a great crafting project to take on! I looked throughout the mighty interwebz, and pulled together a Pinterest board of DIY Kindle cases and sleeves, and crafted one inspired by a few of the ones I saw. The directions I'm going to give you are far from precise, but will get you where you need to go if you have even the slightest bit of sewing knowledge. I don't really, you know, measure things... so it can be a little haphazard, but as you can see the results were good! :) Enjoy!

I used 3 different types of fabric for my cover, and they were all scraps that I had laying around. The solid brown is a pair of khaki pants that I cut off to make shorts (sustainable options hello!), and the polka dotted fabric was leftover from a prior project. The third fabric was a quarter I bought to use on my dish towels... that I never used on my dish towels.

You basically start by cutting two pieces, that will serve as the inside and outside of the cover. It should be an appropriate length to wrap around your Kindle, roughly about 3 times the width of it. Your fabric should be slightly taller than the Kindle itself.

Once you have the main pieces cut, you can create the ruffles and the holding pieces out of the third type of fabric. I created the ruffles myself, and cut them two different sizes to stack on one another. To Create a ruffle, cut a strip of fabric, fold it in half and iron it, then fold the ends under and iron them like shown below:

Once you have it all ironed out, then sew down the side with the tucked in flaps to seal it. I also sewed down the other side to make it uniform (mostly because I used darker thread that was really visible). Once both sides are sewn, use a long stitch length and do one strip directly down the middle, then pull on one piece of the thread on one end and bunch it up to make the ruffle. Do that for both strips.

Once you have your ruffles made, stack them and pin them on the outward facing fabric, on the right side. As you can see in the photo, I had my Kindle inside to get a good idea of where I wanted it to sit inside the case, and where the ruffles should be situated. This is pretty much how I operate with these sorts of things (who actually measures stuff??)... After it's pinned, sew one strip overlapping the middle line and cut off the edges of the ruffle so they only extend about a half an inch past the main fabric.

Be sure to practice proper pet safety in all this... Maeby really likes to try and "help" while I'm sewing. By that I mean she lays right where I'm trying to work. But any time my needle is actually going, I make sure she's not jumping up on the table.

The holding pieces are also not precise at all. I folded a piece of fabric in half and cut it a bit wider than the Kindle. I folded the edges under to make it almost exactly the width of the Kindle. Then I pinned it into place at about the right places so it didn't cover the screen. After that I sewed the sides so that it could slide in and out, but the bottom isn't sewn.

Once the ruffles and holding pieces are sewn on, put the two main fabric pieces together wrong sides together and pin, leaving the end near the ruffles open. Sew the 3 sides together and turn inside out, then iron the edges to make them look a bit crisper.

At this point your case will look as follows:

I got kind of lazy about taking photos at this point, but the rest of the work is pretty simple. I didn't have any batting, but wanted to put a little padding inside the case, so I took an old towel and cut it just smaller than the case itself- leaving it just an inch or so short. I put it inside the case and got it situated and smooth, then sewed in a few different places to secure the towel and make sure it doesn't shift around inside the sleeve. If you look in the photo below, you can see where I put some of that stitching. The only thing you need to do after securing that piece is close off the end. I folded the end back to expose the inside fabric, and folded a ribbon into it that stuck out on either end (which will wrap to the back to tie closed). Make sure the ribbon is secure and you are good to go!

This is what the back looks like when everything is said and done:

There you have it! An incredibly easy, terribly inexpensive (or free) cover for your beloved Kindle. I liked this particular way of designing it because I can just fold the sides behind the Kindle and therefore don't have to take it out of the cover to use it. It definitely has that "DIY" look on the inside, but I'm sure with a bit more planning I could have made it look a bit less messy (that random stitching on the side, for instance, was a failed attempt at adding a piece of elastic to utilize buttons... the ribbon was easier and I think a better choice in the long run).

Either way, I hope you all enjoyed the pseudo-tutorial, and I hope to have more crafting projects to show for myself in 2012. Everyone have a safe and enjoyable New Year!

Cute Tee Shirt Refashioning

So I apologize, sweet world of the internets. I’ve had an incredibly busy last month, and as a result I’ve been playing a hideous game of catch-up as far as my work is concerned. Where have I been, you ask? Well, I’ve been off doing things like fighting terrorism (read: annual two week training for the National Guard), playing music (in public!), and failing to see the sunshine (or the cool breeze of air conditioning… because I don’t have any). Now that I am relatively caught up, I’m updating this blog. Tonight I planned to spend some time watching movies and doing work, and that is still in the cards. I did take a couple of hours, however, to work on a little project I’ve been planning—because I haven’t had time to do so many crafty things as of late, and I love a fab green clothing project… but mostly because I wanted something to wear tomorrow when I go out with the girls.

Here it is:

I of course failed to take a “before” photo, but rest assured that it started out as a men’s plain, size small Aeropostale tee shirt. Solid, no frills. I snagged it at a Goodwill months ago and it’s been waiting a good ole refashioning. I absolutely love the fabric. So comfortable! I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but after several hours on the glorious timesuck that is Pinterest, I found some inspiration and got to work. I really enjoyed playing with the fun, feminine rosettes—as it was my first time ever making or working with them. This shirt was incredibly easy to make and took me all of an hour and a half.

[a closeup of the detailing]

Here are the easy steps that you use to make it. I don’t have step-by-step photos, but I assure you it is not that serious. I didn’t bother measuring a thing.

1. Cut sleeves off of tee shirt.
2. Cut across the top in a straight line, roughly two inches from the bottom of the collar of the tee shirt.
3. I put pleats on the front, mostly because I thought it would give the shirt a bit more form and I thought, “What the hell? Why not?” I don’t think it’s 100% necessary, but if you want to, now is the time to do so.
4. Sew a tube on the top of both sides, so that you can string through.
5. I used a few strips from the top portion we cut off, near the collar, to make my straps. I cut three strips, sewed them together, and pulled so that the tee shirt material kind of buckles on itself and forms a tube/strip.
6. String through both sides.
7. Tie in a bow.
8. I created the rosettes with the hem of the sleeves, because it provided a nice finish.
9. I cut out three little leaves to add a bit more jazz.
10. Sew that crap on in a way that you think looks nice.
11. Voila! Cute tank top from a tee shirt.

The great thing about tee shirt fabric is that it doesn’t really unravel… so I kind of skip the hemming process altogether. Mostly because I’m lazy. Sometimes lazy fashion can be good fashion.

Either way, I hope you all have had a wonderful month, and I will leave you with a fantastic photo of me doing my Army thing—because it’s pretty rad. That’s right, this girl can sew and work on helicopters.

Adorable Adaptive Reuse: Sundress

Hello friends! I wanted to share with you the excitement of a recent project I finished. I mentioned it in a previous post about eco-friendly fashion decisions, but at that point the dress was not quite finished yet. The shirt had been properly adjusted, but the pieces had not yet been put together. Because I've been hard at work behind my sewing machine this weekend attempting to make my own shower curtain-- and the rain has actually broken, allowing for a little sunshine-- I figured it was the perfect opportunity to finish it up and make it wearable! I'm quite happy with the end result :)




Top: An old shirt I never much wore because the sleeves were kind of different. The fabric is super stretchy and comfortable, however. Cost: Free.

Skirt: A Goodwill find. I think I paid about $3 for it.

Belt: Also from Goodwill. It ran me a whopping $0.99.

Total Cost: $4.00. Not bad!

Now to get the full effect, the before and after:


I also took the time today to repaint the toes and fingers, just to add a little oomph! Now all I need is a nice glass of lemonade... and to finish that shower curtain!