Electronics case - tutorial

A few weeks ago I made some takeaway coffee cup cosies for the ladies at my work. My lovely co-workers know that I make most of my daughter's clothes, but I think they were quite surprised to see something different. After spending some time admiring their new cosies one of the girls asked if I could make a new case for her mobile phone.

So, While she was sleeping, I made a mobile phone case for my co-worker. It was a very easy project and I had a lot of fun making it! I made a padded case with a flap. I think my phone case turned out pretty cute and it is oh so functional. This is also a great gift idea.

Would you like to make a case for you phone, I-Pad or any other electronic device? I will tell you what I did. Please feel free to follow my method.

I used quilting cotton for the top layer and lining, and pre-washed bamboo wadding in the middle. You could use different fabrics for the middle layer, like fleece or flannelette, or not worry about any padding at all. I used a walking foot for this project.

I cut out two large rectangles out of each fabric and wadding - for the front and the back of the case, and one small rectangle of each for the flap.

How did I determine the size of rectangles? I measured the phone. The length of the rectangle is the length of the phone + the thickness of the phone x 2 + preferred seam allowance. The width of the rectangle is the width of the phone + the thickness of the phone x 1 1/2 + preferred seam allowance. And for the flap - whatever I thought would look nice :) Making a pattern this way worked for me with the materials I chose to use. You might want to play around to find what works for you taking into account materials you use. If in doubt - make it bigger. You can always make this case smaller and adjust your pattern for future references. What do we have to loose? Only a little bit of fabric :) 

I started sewing with the flap. I put the three layers on top of each other in this order: fabric pieces right sides facing (in simpler words - brighter coloured sides together) with fabric that would be on the inside of the case on top, fabric that would go on the outside of the case in the middle, and wadding at the bottom.

I cut a piece of elastic and tied knots on both ends. I did this to help prevent the elastic slipping out any time soon.

I placed the elastic loop between the two layers of fabric and pinned all the layers together. I worked out that by placing my super secure elastic loop this way I would not see or feel the knots under the top layer of the cover.

I stitched around three sides, clipped the corners, trimmed any excess fabric,

turned the flap right side out and finally pressed. Nice, hey?

Now it was time to make the case. For the front of the case I pinned my three layers in exactly the same manner as when I was making the flap.

I did the same for the back but also placed the flap between the two layers of fabric, just like in the following pictures:

Flap shown between two layers of fabric

Back section showing position of flap 

Then I pinned all the layers, stitched (AT THE TOP only), trimmed excess fabric,

folded them the way they would be and pressed.

Next, I unfolded the front and the back pieces, placed them on top of each other with right sides facing (yep that's right - brighter coloured sides together) so that padded sections ended up on top of each other. Yes, it looked a little thick, but it worked great.

I pinned my halves together,

stitched around leaving an opening at the bottom of the lining like in the following pic, clipped the corners and trimmed excess fabric. When I made another case I also trimmed excess fabric on the fold - see the seam in the middle where on one side I have two layers of fabric and two layers of wadding, and only two layers of fabric on the other? How? Easy. Once I sewed around, I picked the case up, folded it along the seam in the middle and trimmed the corners - just like I usually would. What can I say - you live, you learn :)

Next, I turned the cover right side out,

turned out corners, turned the raw edges towards the inside of the cover and stitched along the side.

Next, I pushed the lining inside the cover, pressed it again,

and sewed on a button.

Simple! 

Please let me know if you make a cover using this tutorial. I would love to hear from you and have a look at the pictures (if you take pictures of your creations). I would appreciate a link back to this tutorial should you choose to use it.