Hey ya’ll! I’m back with the Ipad/laptop cover tutorial I promised.
I am going to give you the measurements for the Ipad, but I will give you tips on sizing it for your laptop or whatever you deem worthy of this lovely cover.
The pics aren’t great since I made this in the evening, but I figured you would rather these than none, right? Okay, great! I knew you would understand… that’s why I love ya’ll so!
Supplies:
Main fabric, lining fabric, interfacing, velcro, thread, marking tool, etc.
Alrighty. First you need to measure your laptop. The Ipad is 7.47 inches by 9.56 inches to be exact. It is 1/2 inch thick.
Here is your formula: Short side length (7.5″ x 2) + 1/2″ for seam allowances + thickness (1/2″) + 1″ for flap fold (or whatever you think is best) = 17″
Next: Long side length (9.56″) + 1/2″ for seam allowances + thickness (1/2″) + 1/4 for topstitching + 1/4″ of wiggle room = 11 1/4″ish
Okay, so we are now working with 17″ by 11 1/4″ or whatever works for your laptop.
Now you are going to make your point for the cover (if you stick with it, you are home free… this is the hardest part). I wanted my point to come down at about midpoint on my Ipad. Remembering that I am going to lose a 1/4 inch to seam allowances, I chose 4 inches as my point measurement (edited to add *This is an extra 4″ added to the 17″, so now you are looking at about 21″). This is somewhat arbitrary and up to your personal preference. So, the way to make your point is to take the top of your short side and mark it’s center point. Mine is at 5 5/8 (1/2 of 11 1/4″). Then measure 4″ inches straight up from there and make a mark. After you have your 4″ mark, draw a diagonal line from that point down to each short end. You should have a shape like the one below. If you look closely, you can see my chalk markings on the main fabric.
Whew, have you got it? Did it make sense? I sure hope so because I just wrote that about 12 times to try to get it to make sense. So, that’s what I got. Feel free to email me if you have questions about that part.
Okay, now cut this shape out of your main fabric, your lining fabric and one piece of interfacing (I used like a thermolam plus… something with a little cushioning, but not too thick like batting… although, batting would probably be just fine!)
Once you have that, you are going to need to mark on your lining piece where your velcro should go. To do this, I sort of eyeballed it keeping in mind that I was going to lose a 1/4″ for my seam allowance and 1/8″ for my topstitch. Make sure you are far enough down (mine is about 1″ from the top and 1/2″ from the sides). The size of the velcro is up to you. My soft side of velcro is 1″ and the rough side is about 2″ which allows the cover to be a bit adjustable. You are going to put the soft side on your lining piece. Sew that baby down (sewing is stronger than adhesive… sew it down… trust, Carrie).
Now, layer your batting, then lining right side up, and then your main fabric right side down. Got it? Now pin it.
Sew it together using a 1/4″ seam allowance and leaving an opening for turning. You can see that I left my opening at the bottom. I like to put 2 pins where I should stop sewing because I can’t tell you how many times I have sewn something all the way shut and had to bust out the seam ripper. No fun, there! After you sew it, clip your corners.
Don’t forget your side points too! Then, turn it right side out and press it down nice a neat making sure to press in your opening to make it look as if it is sewn. You will close that up in the next step. Next, sew a 1/8″ top stitch around the entire piece. After that, get your Ipad/laptop and give it a dry run. Make sure it is going to fit. Don’t worry, you did great and it will fit lovely! Next you want to mark how far you should fold up the bottom to make the sleeve.
Before you actually sew down the sides, you want to fold over the flap in order to know where to put your other piece of velcro and sew that down.
Now, pin your sides and sew using a 1/8″ topstitch (you will be sewing over your 1/8″ topstitch from 2 steps ago). Don’t forget to backstitch a few times at the tops as this is where you will get the most stress.
And you’re done! Ain’t she gorgeous!! Great job, friends!
As always, I’d love to see pictures if you give it a go.
Ta for now!
Hi,
I have a school issued iPad 2 with a cover that I can’t take off, but I want to make a case that can hold my iPad that looks nice and that is easy to carry around. would these measurements be the same? If they aren’t, what should they be and how can I find them? I would also like to add a strap like a book bag would have.
Please help!
I love this tutorial! I had a professional photographer to ask me to make her a cover for her photo proof books, and I started googling tutorials and came across this one. This is my finished product! I used a ribbon for closure instead of velcro for a little fancier finish
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78891830@N03/?saved=1
[...] Kearney — source: PrettyPennyDesigns 3. pinned by Nicole Redington — source: Dixie Mango 4.pinned by btrflywmn — source: A Spoonful of [...]
Here are my photos of your iPad cover:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathygrom/7104190217/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathygrom/6958146238/in/photostream/
I found it best to thoroughly read the instructions. In your measurements you state that you added a 1-inch flap and the tutorial you used a 4-inch flap. But it was easy enough to figure out the differences between your formulas and the tutorial. Thanks for making it so easy.
It looks amazing!!! Thanks for sharing the photos!
Love it! This is rocken! Thanks for sharing!
Hi! Can I have permission to feature some of your tutorials on SewCanShe.com? I’d like to start with this one.
Please let me know.
Thanks!
Caroline
I absolutely LOVE my new sleeve! Thank you fo the tutorial!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakewalkqueen/6865725736/in/photostream
[...] is a holder for a friend’s tablet device, following this tutorial. The other is a make-up pouch using this tutorial – except it’s far too small to hold [...]
[...] [...]
[...] [...]
Hi there,
Great tutorial – I’ve just made one for my hubby’s birthday, based on your design it is slightly different but I followed your tutorial which is fab, my only question is do I top stitch around the whole ipad cover again or just down the sides in the last step and how do you avoid having two lots of top stitch showing through – I have found on mine that the top stitch on the over side doesn’t always follow exactly where the first lot of topstitch is, is there anyway around this?
thanks
I made this and it turned out great. It was so easy to make. I will post a picture later.
Yay! Please do!
Hm. I just made this. Even adding in an extra 1/2 inch all around there is too little fabric. Shouldn’t there be extra fabric on the short side fabric to account for the flap?
Hey there. I’m not sure what you mean about adding fabric to the short side for the flap? The short side should have anything to do with the flap since it is added to the long side. I’m afraid I don’t understand. I would love to help you. You could send me a picture and maybe that would help. carrie@dixiemango.com
[...] [...]
Loved this so much i blogged about it in my
My 5 favorite Laptop Covers
Pls feel free to grab the i’ve been featured button from here
Thanks for sharing
Thank you so much, Mayya!!
[...] This next tutorial is actually for an Ipad Cover however Carrie of Dixie Mango says this can be made to fit ANY laptop love her already right?! [...]
[...] My boss got an iPad for Christmas, so I thought about a nice accessory and settled on an iPad case. I looked on Etsy and CafePress and found some really nice cases, but all of them were out of my price range. So I Googled and found some great patterns. I settled on this one from Dixie Mango. [...]
[...] Ipad Cover Tutorial: Envelope flap style, closes with a strip of velcro. Design works well for a laptop or netbook too. iPad Covers To Make – Set Three [...]
love it, great tutorial. a friend collects pez and i want to make him one with pez fabric. thanks for sharing.
So pretty! That fabric is amazing!
Thank you Carrie. I will alter slightly and make a couple of these for the new Lenovo laptops. They have a curved battery.
Yay! I am totally making several of these–one for me and one for my brother.
I wanted to make something for my dad’s new ipad for Father’s Day. I think this is it!
Really lovely! Thanks for posting this…
Yay! Thanks for posting
. I love the fabric!!
Ooh this is great! Thanks so much for the how-to, I’ll be linking. The fabric is gorgeous!