It’s theĀ  Bake, Craft & Sew Along —the sewing edition! Don’t forget to skip on over to According to Kelly to see some fun crafty non-sewing gifts and to A Southern Fairytale for edible goodies that will be perfect this holiday season.

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I know this is a handmade gift series but Char from Crap I’ve Made shows how to make a simple and cool laptop sleeve that I must make for myself! It would make a great gift too! Don’t miss all the lovelyĀ  things (crap) she makes on her blog!

Char writes…

Iā€™m Char from Crap Iā€™ve Made. I donā€™t like pudding or hugging. I love Diet Coke and naps. I readily admit to fake crying in an attempt to get out of sewing class in the 9th grade. My teacher didnā€™t buy it, and the rest is history. And, Iā€™m thrilled to be here participating in the Holiday Bake, Craft, & Sew Along.

Hereā€™s my tutorial for a zippered laptop sleeve. Since itā€™s measurement based, you could adapt it to fit an iPad or other electronic gadget, too.

How to Make a Zippered Laptop Sleeve

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Supplies:
Outer fabric
Lining fabric
Fusible fleece
Zipper (approximately 4ā€ longer than your laptop)
Embellishments

Measure your laptop, wrapping your tape measure all the way around.

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Mine measures 18.5ā€ X 24.5ā€. (Yes, itā€™s tiny.)

Split both of those measurements in half. In my example, that would be 9.25ā€ X 12.25ā€. Add 1.25ā€ to both of those measurements. In my example thatā€™s 10.5ā€ X 13.5ā€. Weā€™re finished with the math. Cut 2 pieces from your outer fabric this size. Cut 2 pieces from your lining fabric this size. Cut 2 pieces of fusible fleece this size. I then trimmed 1/2ā€ off all around my fusible fleece because I didnā€™t want the bulk in my seams.

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Embellish one of your exterior pieces as desired now. Iā€™m including directions for exactly how I made mine, but feel free to change that up to personalize your laptop sleeve.

Cut a strip of fabric 3.5ā€ wide and then press under 1/4ā€ on the top and bottom edges.

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Position on the front of your laptop sleeve and stitch in place along both edges.

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Cut a strip of fabric 3ā€ high by at least twice the width of your laptop case. Fold under 1/2ā€ on both long edges and press.

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Run a long gathering stitch (do not backstitch) about 1/4ā€ in along both long edges. Pull your bobbin threads to gather evenly. Position in the middle of the larger strip and stitch in place.

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(I made the decorative flower using these directions on WiseCraft. Itā€™s attached to a pin and is removable so you wonā€™t see it until the final pictures.)

Iron your fusible fleece to the wrong sides of both pieces of outer fabric, following the manufacturerā€™s instructions.

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Take your zipper and place it face down and centered along the top edge of your front piece. You should have excess zipper on both ends.

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Pin the zipper in place in the center. In order to get the zipper to go around the corners nicely, youā€™re going to make a few shallow snips along the part you need to bend.

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Keep on pinning around both corners. I like to use A LOT of pins.

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Baste the zipper in place. I used white thread so it would show up better for photographic purposes.

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Position your lining fabric directly on top of your front piece, right sides facing.

DSC_0168-1 Sew just inside of your basting line. Turn your pieces right side out. Press your exterior and lining fabrics away from the zipper.

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Close the zipper. Position your other exterior piece on top, so the sides are even. Slide it up until itā€™s even with the zipper and pin. Unzip and repeat the zipper installation steps for the back half of the case.

Hereā€™s what youā€™ve got nowā€¦nice neat zipper and ugly unfinished seams everywhere else.

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Pull your exterior fabrics over so the right sides are facing, like this:

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Keep turning until youā€™ve got both exterior pieces facing and both lining pieces facing.

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Donā€™t be alarmed by the hot mess it appears to be right now. Youā€™re *almost* there!

Reach up between the exterior layers and undo the zipper a few inches (big enough to fit your hand through and reach to undo the zipper the rest of the way later).

Youā€™re going to sew ONLY on the exterior pieces. Fold, pull, and otherwise maneuver the lining pieces out of the way. Youā€™ll be sewing from one end of the zipper to the other.

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In the above picture, youā€™d sew from one pin, down around the bottom edge and then up to the other pin.

Repeat with the lining pieces, BUT leave a 4-5ā€ hole in the bottom (again, big enough to fit your hand through).

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Stick your hand way up in there and grab the bottom seam on the exterior fabrics.

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And pull it out through the hole.

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Close up the hole in the lining. I usually pull it all the way out and machine stitch close to the edge, but you could hand stitch if you prefer.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand youā€™re done!

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Click here to see all the handmade gift ideas in our Bake, Craft & Sew Along (updated daily).

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Comments

  1. I had made a tote as a gift and my husband said there should’ve been a pocket for a laptop in it. It was too late to add a pocket, so I searched for laptop sleeve patterns and found yours. I wanted the zipper to go around the corners a little like yours did. The zipper went in fine, but I didn’t realize the zipper ends wouldn’t get concealed with the way your pattern was written. I un-sewed a great deal, folded the zipper ends into the seam and then re-sewed everything from that point on (I guess I should have known to tuck the ends in in the first place). I could’ve used some close up photos of the zipper ends during installation. Once I did that, it turned out well and I was pleased with the finished sleeve. Thanks for the instructions.

  2. I really like how the zip wraps around corners. I have started mine and was doing alright until I got to the step where I am supposed to attach the back to the zip. Totally confusing for me. Should I have already attached the other interior piece when I attached the front interior? How is the back piece facing the zip and the front piece? Very frustrating for me. I wish you had more pics of placement. Also what type of zip did you use? I would not recommend this to a newer sewer. I had to toss my zip after the rip out and my front interior piece is looking as frazzled as I was feeling. Yours is just lovely! I am really disappointed but I won’t be finishing mine.

  3. I love it! Can’t wait to make it. I have a notebook that I carry in my purse, and it will be great protection for it. Why not more than one!

  4. I didn’t see how the yellow flower was made. Those type floweres are what I am tying to make.
    Can anyone help???

    Thanks in advance

  5. Really like the laptop case. If Santa brings me a Kindle Fire HD it will definitely get one of these in which to reside.

  6. Made this…so easy to follow!

    How could I switch it up so the zipper goes the entire way around for say my ipad, more of a case than a sleeve? (Kind of like a zippered binder cover?)

  7. Hey I love your tutorial! I am using it as a guide to make my own sleeve! Each side is actually divided into panels to represent the french flag! On one side I feature a black silhouette of the eiffel tower, and a silhouette of the Paris opera house on the other side! šŸ˜€

  8. We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with valuable info to work on. You have done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.

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