Kindle Cover Project II, Continued

This is part II a continuation of a posting called "Kindle Cover Project".  I started it a day or two ago, about creating a cover for my Amazon Kindle. The first part can be found by hitting this link http://shoresidefarmhouse.blogspot.com/2013/03/kindle-cover-project.html.  I promised to write the directions for this project so here goes. I fear that this will be way too long, so I will do my best to keep it short and write another posting in another day or two if necessary to continue the directions.

supplies for making the Kindle cover project

In designing this Kindle cover I had some loose goals to accomplish. To design something like this you have to think three dimensionally, and I have not had the necessity to do that in some time.  My mention of three dimensional thinking pertains to what pieces have to be sewed in reverse and which side of the fabric to have outwards, such as the printed front or the duller back side of the fabric. You will be able to discern which is which pretty easily in the photos. This animal print fabric is pretty obvious as to which is the front and which is the back.

photo 2 thin profile from the side

photo 3 pocket on front and back of kindle cover

For my design elements I wanted a thin cover (photo 2) because I didn't want it to be too clunky to tote.  I wanted it to easily fit into a purse or tote bag. One or twice while out with the Kindle, it ran out of battery. I decided I wanted to bring the recharging cord with me at all times, so that if the battery dies I might be able to recharge it while out of the house.








For storage of the recharging chord, I created a pocket on the cover. (photo 3 left) You can see my fingers inside it.

(photo 4 below)
Creating the pocket was a pretty simple addition to the project. I just cut a piece of fabric 3/4  to 2/3 of the size of the front cover as seen below in photo 4.

photo 4  fabric cut to make pocket

(photo 5 below )
On one long edge of the pocket piece in photo 4 I turned under a thin hem. I rolled it so that the raw fabric edge was hidden from sight and then I sewed a straight stitch seam over it to hold the hem edge in place. That strengthened the pocket edge and makes the
 edge a bit rigid to hold the cord into the pocket.

photo 5 turned under fabric to create finished pocket
edge, then top stitched to keep in  place

(Photo 6 below)
Of course this pocket will be put over the piece of fabric that forms the front of the cover. It and the front cover fabic will be sewn as one. If it makes you more confident, you can tack them together on an edge that will be inside a side seam to remind yourself that they are being sewn together. Sometimes little tricks like that can save your sanity if you fear you will get confused with all the parts.

photo 6  pocket piece laid over the front piece
so that they will be sewed as one, note the
hem seam about one quarter of the way down the front

photo 7  tracing and cutting foam core to protect the screen

photo 8  is the piece of foam core cut out and ready to install later in the process

(Photo 7 left) I need to protect the soft screen of the kindle, so I have put something rigid inside the front of the cover to firm up the front. I used foam core because it is light and rigid. Foam core comes in a sheet. It is some sort of foamy stiff substance inside two sheets of paper, or card stock...it can be purchased in an art supply, craft shop, or even in dollar stores for only a dollar for a 16"x20" a sheet. In photo 7 you can see I have laid it over black foam core, traced around the edge with my pencil and then cut out the shape and size of the kindle. This will give me the size I believe adequate to cover my screen.  Make it larger if you choose, or follow my  lead if you believe that size is adequate. (Photo 8 above) shows the piece I have cut out and will later put inside the cover to protect the screen.

This posting is getting very long, so I will continue describing the project in my next posting. I believe if you become a member of this blog via the gadget on the home page, you will receive a notice when the part III continuation posting goes on line. That will be "Kindle Project III, Continued". Cheers!