iPad Case

We bought the iPad way back when it first came out in Canada but we never got a case for it.  Well I felt it was about time that we got a case so it's easier to take around and to protect it. Of course buying a pre-made case is not nearly as much fun as making my own, so to the fabric store I went.  I love the idea of a neutral colour on the outside and a big pop of colour on the inside, so I went with a gray corduroy for the outside, and a bright pink fleece for the inside.  Also I wanted all the seams to be in pink so there would be that additional pop of colour. 

This is how I did it:

Materials:
1 binder
0.5 m  each of outer fabric and lining
2 buttons
thread

First take the binder and cut two 8.5 x 11 inch pieces. (This makes the case sturdy and have more support)

two cut binder pieces

Cut the fabric as follows:
Cut two each of the outer and lining fabric in the size of 13.5 x 11 inches. (These are the outside pieces)
Cut one of the outer and lining fabric in the size of  13.5 x 9 inches. (These are for the pocket)
Cut one of the outer and lining fabric in the size of 13.5 x 8.5 inches. (These are for the flap)

Cut peices

Take the pocket fabric and place the wrong sides together (outer fabric and lining).  Sew across the top (13.5 inch side).  Turn the fabric so the wrong sides are together.  Press.  Top stich along the new seam, and another below it (I did seams of 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch)

This should be what it looks like

Place the pocket right side up on one piece of the outside fabric(13.5 x 11 inch), also facing up.  Then place the right side of the lining on top, so that right sides are facing.

Now sew a seam along the two sides and the bottom.  Turn the fabric inside out, don't forget to clip the corners so they turn easier.  This will be the front panel.

Take the last outside pieces (13.5 x 11 inch) and place the right sides together.  Sew along the two sides and bottom.  Turn inside out, remember to cut the corners to turn better) This is the back panel.

Do the same for the flap piece.  Place the right sides together, sew along the 3 sides, turn inside out. 

This is what you should have (I took the plastic of the binder pieces)

At this point I made my button holes int the top flap.  This doesn't need to be done at this point, but this is when I did it.

Now take one of the binder pieces and put into the panel with the pocket.  This part is a bit tricky, but pin the binder into the middle of this piece.  This is to make sure that you don't sew over the binder.  Now turn in the open seam and press in place. 

Sew along the top seam.  Again I did a 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch seam allowance. 
Now put the other binder piece in the non-pocket piece, and pin into place just like above.  Again turn in the seams and press.  Again tricky, place the top flap inside the opening and pin into place.  Sew along the seam where the flap and the back piece meet.  I did the two seams again.

Inside pinned together

Outside pinned together

Now that these two pieces are sewing together, place the back piece with the flap lining side up and the pocket piece lining side down.  Sew along the three sides, take out the pins.  Sew the buttons into place, and it is now complete!!

The finished case

Inside of case

iPad sitting comfortably

This is my first pattern I made myself.  It turned out quite well, and I like how putting the iPad in and out of the case cleans the screen!


(Please use pattern for personal uses only)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving weekend!  This year for Thanksgiving desert I made Pumpkin Cake with Brown butter icing from Martha Stewart.  I have made this cake before and it is so good.  It is really moist and tasty.  The icing is really easy to make, and probably one of my favorites.  I am always impressed by how well the caramelized walnuts turn out, although I used pecans this time as they did not seem to have walnuts at the store.  

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Butter Icing

Side view, so yummy!

Crobots - Retrobot

I have finished Retrobot, which is also the last of the "easy" crobots to do.  (They are rated on a scale of one cogwheel to four, one being the easiest)  I didn't have the valves to put on for the arms, but I used some screws in place of them.  I am starting to find, the more I do of the crobots, the easier they seem to be.  I guess it is true, practice makes perfect!

Retrobot

Phoebe and Retrobot, taking a break

Crobots - Zombiebot & Mechanobot

I have completed a couple more crobots.  The one I was most looking forward to making was Zombiebot and it turned out great.  I especially love the arm falling off.  It took me a while to finish making him as I needed to get a hold of some screws and more springs.  For the screws I went to the MCC thrift shop and got a bag of miscellaneous screws and nails for only 50 cents. Woo Hoo!   For the springs I went to the dollar store and got a bag of pens with springs, as I was tired of looking around my house for pens I could tear apart. I think they both turned out really great.

Zombiebot

Zombiebot sneaking up on Phoebe......On No!!!!

Mechanobot

Phoebe shocked by Mechanobot's awesomeness!

**No cats were zombiefied in the making of this blog**

Gathered Clutch

I came across this tutorial for a gathered clutch on the Noodlehead blog and thought I have to try it.  The hardest part of making this was picking out the fabric.  I have a habit of going into Fabricland, looking around at all the fabric I want, then leaving empty handed.  After doing this a few times I finally told myself I was not allowed to leave the store until I had all the stuff I needed to make this clutch.  The next hardest part was finding time to make it.  Well last night I decided would be the perfect time to put this all together.  It turns out it was not hard at all, and I had a lot of fun doing it.  This is the very first project I have done with a zipper and a lining and I think it turned out really well.  I added an extra set of card holders inside of the clutch as I have a lot of cards I like to carry around.

Front of Clutch

Back of Clutch (Love the birds!)

Inside of Clutch

Crobots - Bopbot

The next crobot in the book is Bopbot.  It took me a bit to finish as I had to find some sequins and a retractable ballpoint pen for the spring inside.  Also, I was also supposed to get a screw top jewelry fastener for the headphones, but I finally decided to just finish it without.  If I come across one that I already have I will add it to Bopbot in then, but for now I think it's just fine.

Bopbot

Bopbot chilling with Phoebe

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Butterfly Specimen case

I was browsing on some blogs when I came upon this post on homemade by jill on paper punch art with butterflies.  I loved it and just had to make it.  So I went to the local MCC thrift shop and found a really cheap picture frame that had glass in it for $6.00.  It was not pretty so I needed to spruce it up so I sanded it down a bit and spray painted it.

Front of Frame

Back of frame (Weird)

Taken apart ready to paint

When the frame was all painted I was ready to put the glass back inside.  However, I broke the glass that came with the frame which was so frustrating.  So I had to go back to the store and buy another frame with glass, another $8.00, which was cheaper then buying just the glass at a craft store.

The spray paint I used and the glazier points used to keep the glass in place

 After I had the glass in place I needed to start on the picture.  I bought the Martha Stewart classic butterfly punch and started punching out butterflies from old magazines.  I tried to find different patterns to punch out so each butterfly would be different.  In total I had to punch out 378 butterflies!  It was now time to lay them out.  I bought a sheet of mat paper and used that as the background.  To give the butterflies some depth I used foam circles to give them some height.  I used the samster Mommy blog for instructions on how to lay out the butterflies.

When all the butterflies were attached I was ready to attach the picture to the frame.  I just used masking tape and some thumb tacks.  Then I re- attached the hanger and it was ready to hang!

Back of picture

I absolutely love the final picture.  It turned out just like I wanted it to!!!!

The final picture