Friday 4 March 2011

Kindle Cases

I got a kindle for Christmas and it is one of my favourite presents for a long time! For those who don’t know about it, it is basically an mp3 player for books. So it has a mini screen and you can download, store and read books on it. It is great because the screen on it is black and and white and designed for text, so is nothing like a computer screen. I love being able to carry it on the train and not get weighed down by all my books! So my beautiful kindle required a beautiful case to keep it nice and shiny. I wasn’t going to pay £50 for the official one, plus it makes it really heavy, so I made my own.

Case 1
I realised that all I wanted from a case, was something small and slim to protect it from dust and scratches whilst it is in my bag. I wanted to keep the weight and size down, and have it easy to open and close.
So I decided that I would quilt the cover, for padding. I wanted something to make it slightly rigid as well, therefore I inserted two pieces of cardboard inside. I had a top open with a button clasp so I can get it out and put it away quickly. I chose this dark fabric so it wouldn’t get as dirty.
Layers: lining cardboard, wadding, outer fabric.

Case and kindle

I like my case and it does exactly what I need it to. Because of the way I made it with the quilting and the cardboard it was all hand sewn.


Part 2

Then my sister got a kindle for her birthday, and I offered to make her a case for hers as well. Now you may remember the owl bag? That was for the same sister, so she is a pretty funky girl. The fun bit was choosing the fabric and I found this design and knew it was perfect. It is ‘A wonderful reproduction print from an original 1950's design by Jacqueline Groag held by the V&A collection.’ (fabricrehab, 2011)
Blue felt for the lining as it is soft and will protect the screen, and a matching blue zip.

Mid Century Books Fabric

As she would be travelling to college every day I knew she would use it a lot. So I altered my case slightly and came up with this.
Due to my recent zip experience, I wanted to put a zip in her case, and this would be more protective.
Her case is quilted with square quilting to mimic the pattern of the fabric. This was sewn by hand. Next I went to sew the lining and zip onto it, and my sewing machine went a bit mad, as I realised it does not like wadding!

Therefore a small redesign was in order. I cut a piece of fabric and ironed on interfacing then tacked this to the quilted section. The interfacing also helped to give structure to the case. Therefore it was now ok to use the sewing machine and I sewed on the zip and the felt lining.


Once that was done I sewed up the case and pulled it right side out, neatened up the seams and was finished.
My zip endings were similar to the make up case, and not perfect, but the zip functions fine and the kindle fits in and out nicely.

Completed case

Kindle with cases

Kindle with case 2
I really love this fabric, it is colourful, modern and perfect as the kindle is for reading books.
The zip ensures the case is completely closed and protective, and the quilting gives it soft padding.
My sister was also pleased judging by the text message I received once she got the parcel 'I LOVE IT!!! YOU'RE SO AMAZING!! XXXXXX'


New skills and materials used
• Quilting
Shopping list
• Outer fabric, case 1: Small star design. Boyds, Lincoln
• Outer fabric, case 2: Mid Century Books Multi, www.fabricrehab.co.uk
• Lining and zip: Boyds, Lincoln

1 comment:

  1. Lovely post and lovely work, well done. I'm not suprised your sister was pleased. Well done again on the zip.

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