Tutorial: Case for a Kindle Keyboard

I’m, er, rather rough on portable electronic devices. They get stuffed into my purse along with everything else that’s in there (at the very least a wallet, an inhaler, some pens, and my multitool–but the occasional/more-frequently-than-not scissors, book, device charger, etc.)

But when the screen on my Kindle went loopy after a quick trip in my purse (my best bet is that it knocked up against the multi-tool)… And when I couldn’t fix the problem by resetting the system… I knew I needed to do something to protect any future devices before I acquired them.

Not being one to shell out money for something that I’m certain could be made myself, I searched for tutorials rather than for items to purchase. What I found was this tutorial, which I read through and then adapted quite liberally to make my own cover, which I wanted to be hard-sided AND padded to provide extra protection from stray multi-tools.

And, of course, I took pictures and wrote up the steps so that I could replicate the process should I so desire.

What You Need:

• Chipboard (I didn’t have any chipboard handy enough so I used the inferior, but in this case still fairly sturdy regular cardboard from within an old binder)
• Fabric for exterior of case
• Fabric for interior of case
• Quilt batting
• Elastic (I used dollar store elastic headbands)

What You Need to Do:

1. Cut chipboard (using a straightedge and a utility knife) into the following:

• Two 7 5/8″ x 5″ rectangles
• One 7 5/8″ x 1 1/2″ rectangle

2. Cut exterior fabric into rectangle 14″ x 8 1/2″

3. Cut interior fabric and batting into rectangle 15″ x 9 1/2″

4. Pin batting to wrong side of interior fabric. Quilt through fabric and batting as desired (I did diagonal lines from either direction to make a diamond pattern)

5. Cut quilted fabric down to a 14″ x 8 1/2″ rectangle

6. Cut 3 pieces of elastic ~7″ long

7. Lay out quilted fabric right side up so that the short sides make the sides and the long sides make the top and bottom. Mark points along the top edge 2 3/4″ from right side, 3 1/2″ from right side, and 6 1/2″ from right side. Mark the same points along the bottom edge. This will be where you’ll attach your elastic (see the photo below for approximately what that will look like.)

8. Baste edges of elastic to marked points (I used a zig-zag stitch hugging the far side of the fabric.

9. Pin interior fabric to exterior fabric, right sides together.

10. Sew top, right side, and left side together using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance.

11. Turn inside out and press corners to a point using your fingers or a crochet hook.

12. Arrange elastic so that the center piece of elastic is on the exterior side and the other two pieces of elastic are on the interior side.

13. Slide 7 5/8″ x 1 1/2″ rectangle of chipboard into sewn pocket. Snug it all the way up to the seam.

14. Change the presser foot on your sewing machine to a zipper foot and sew as close as you can to the chipboard without sewing through the chipboard. (The dotted line on the photo below shows approximately where the edge of the chipboard is–and therefore where I sewed.)

15. Sew another line 3/4″ away from the seam you just made. (This time, the dotted line is a very approximate indicator of where that seam will be.)

16. Slide one of the 7 5/8″ x 5″ rectangles of chipboard into sewn pocket so that it is snug against the seam you just made. Sew as close to the “open” side of the chipboard as you can without sewing through the chipboard.

17. Sew another line 7/8″ away from the seam you just made.

18. Snug in your final piece of chipboard. At this point, if you were to fold your case up, it would look something like the picture below (except that your cardboard shouldn’t be showing because I adjusted the dimensions of the fabric in this tutorial to fix that problem.)

19. Tuck additional fabric into itself and slipstitch opening closed (or, if you hate slipstitching as much as I do, use your zipper foot again and sew really uber-close to the chipboard again.)

Your cover is now complete, except for inserting your Kindle.

20. Slide Kindle under the two strips of elastic. Close cover. Place flap over cover, Move elastic from back over flap to seal shut.

You’ll notice that my flap looks a bit wonky–that it projects a bit instead of laying flat. I adjusted the measurement up in step 15 so that shouldn’t happen to you if you’re following this tutorial.

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Of course, now that I’ve made my own case, I’ve seen a half dozen cute pictures and tutorials elsewhere that I’d ALSO like to try. You can check out my Kindle Cover Pinboard if you’re interested in seeing some of those.