Laptop Sleeve

It’s the  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.

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 lovely  things (crap) she makes on her blog!

Char writes…

I’m Char from Crap I’ve Made. I don’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 didn’t buy it, and the rest is history. And, I’m thrilled to be here participating in the Holiday Bake, Craft, & Sew Along.

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

How to Make a Zippered Laptop Sleeve

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

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

Mine measures 18.5” X 24.5”. (Yes, it’s tiny.)

Split both of those measurements in half. In my example, that would be 9.25” X 12.25”. Add 1.25” to both of those measurements. In my example that’s 10.5” X 13.5”. We’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 1/2” off all around my fusible fleece because I didn’t want the bulk in my seams.

Embellish one of your exterior pieces as desired now. I’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 3.5” wide and then press under 1/4” on the top and bottom edges.

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

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

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

(I made the decorative flower using these directions on WiseCraft. It’s attached to a pin and is removable so you won’t see it until the final pictures.)

Iron your fusible fleece to the wrong sides of both pieces of outer fabric, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s what you’ve got now…nice neat zipper and ugly unfinished seams everywhere else.

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

Keep turning until you’ve got both exterior pieces facing and both lining pieces facing.

Don’t be alarmed by the hot mess it appears to be right now. You’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).

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

In the above picture, you’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 4-5” hole in the bottom (again, big enough to fit your hand through).

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

And pull it out through the hole.

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 you’re done!