Tuesday, January 08, 2013

"It was a Dark and Stormy Night..." Kindle Sleeve Tutorial



Teenage Daughter has been after my Nancy Drew book sleeve ever since I finished it. I might have given it to her and made another for myself, but she doesn't even like Nancy Drew. So it's staying mine and I made a new one for her, one that was a little more "her" style.


The Sizzix Vintage Typewriter die makes my heart go pitty-pat. I don't know how many excuses I'll find to applique typewriters onto things, but the dies aren't that expensive and I really wanted this one.  And isn't it just perfect for a Kindle sleeve?

The sleeve itself is super-easy to make.

Apply fusible web to the back of your black fabric and run it through the cutter (I'm assuming that if you have the cutter, you already know how it works -- if you need help, just let me know!)  The keys and other details are cut out, so to keep your background fabric from showing through, you'll need to cut a piece of fabric to layer behind it.

Apply fusible web to the back of your "typewriter keys" fabric and lay it under the cut typewriter piece with both wrong sides facing up. trace around the edges of the typewriter, starting just below the roller bar. Cut along those lines, then trim until your cut piece fits behind the typewriter with no edges showing.


Cut the fabric for your "paper" (also backed with fusible web)  2 1/4" wide and it will feed through the slot in the die. I left mine a bit wider until the lettering was done, then trimmed it down.
I typed the words with my old electric typewriter, the one that wasn't neat enough to be included when I wrote about my vintage typewriter collection. To get the letters dark enough, I typed over each one from seven to ten times, backspacing after each and retyping it until it was dark enough.



For the sleeve, cut two 8" x 19" pieces of blue fabric and one matching piece of batting. Layer the pieces with the batting on bottom, then two blue pieces with the right sides facing. Sew around outer edge with 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a 4" opening along one long side. Turn right side out.

Fold in half to determine where you want to place the typewriter. Layer the fabric for the keys under the typewriter with the paper threaded through the slot. The bottom edge of the paper will be tucked behind the keys.  Fuse all three layers into place and then free motion quilt around the outer edges with black thread.



Fold the sleeve in half with right sides together and sew a 1/4" seam down both long sides. Turn ride side out.

This post is linked to Elm Street Quilts.

8 comments:

Quiltsmiles said...

Nicely done and perfect tutorial, thanks! Jane

Linda said...

Great tutorial!Thanks.

Cathy said...

What a fun Kindle cover.

Rachel said...

What a fabulous idea and execution of it! Totally love it!

Calicojoan said...

What a great cover. Now I have to ask, you can run fabric thru Sizzix? I have some orig scrapbooking dies, but I am guessing the fabrics ones are different? Very interesting. I must explore this more!

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Great tutorial and Kindle cover! I love my Sizzix too! Thanks for sharing.
Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

Bonnie said...

I keep hearing about the sissix being used for fabric but haven't noticed any ads for it in Quilt mags. Where did you get yours? Does using it w/fabric void a warrantee?

Your two sleeves, Nancy and typewriter are really cute. Thanks for sharing this info on Quiltville Chat.

Patty said...

Thanks for linking the tutorial to Elm Street Quilts Bag It. I just love the typewriter! So clever.

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