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My new tablet and tablet case... |
Several weeks before that, my old
Acer tablet
had started acting up, randomly selecting things and generally
rendering itself useless on a regular basis. Also, about two years ago, the
bottom left edge began being nonresponsive, meaning that I often had to rotate
the tablet to select or type something. Long story short, I recognized that it
was probably time for a replacement. (But more about that later.)
At $99, this Lenovo hit the magic price point for me. It comes with a
charging stand that also allows it to be used as digital photo frame. (It can also be charged in a normal fashion via a standard micro usb port.)
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| Tablet comes with a charging stand... |
Because of the stand, I didn't opt to buy a leatherette folio style case
like I did for the Acer five years ago. (Besides which, the ones
they sell on eBay nowadays are up to three times the price of the
one I bought back in 2015.) Instead, I decided to sew up a basic slipcase for
it, mostly for travel purposes... whenever travel becomes a thing for me
again.
So on a Monday in early January, I took out my project book and thought I'd be able to hammer it out as a Quick Craft Mondays kind of thing.
As it turns out, while you may be able to use my suggestions to do your own
version of a Quick Craft Monday, this slipcase certainly didn't get
done that Monday. Or that Tuesday. Or that Wednesday. Or... you get the
picture.
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| A good start... |
It was the following Monday before I completed it, after ripping out
many stitches the previous Saturday.
The beginning was promising. My project book above shows the measurements
that I figured would be needed for the simple construction method involved.
All I wanted to do was take one long strip of finished — interfaced with
fusible fleece — fabric, fold it back onto itself to create a slip pocket and
then sew up the two sides. (My YJCFS fabric even has a non-directional print on it, so it's ideal for this type of application.)
Easy, right?
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| Making sure it'll fit.. |
I've used the same method for a couple of previous projects, most recently a laptop slipcase.
It was when I decided to incorporate an idea from smart phone purses made with
vinyl pockets that the project turned from basic to not so basic. I wanted
to add a vinyl pocket to the back of the slipcase.
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| A dual-sided idea... |
Did you know that you can use a touch screen through a sheet of vinyl? If you have a smart phone with a protective shield, that's not news
to you. But you may have thought that a special or specific type of vinyl is
required. That's not the case, as mine was a remnant from a bedding storage bag.
My challenge was to figure out how to attach the vinyl so that it would look good. For instance, I couldn't just sew it up on top of the fabric edge.
My first
attempt was to wrap the entire edge with bias binding.
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| Option 1: Attaching vinyl using bias binding... |
I can't show you how this turned out, because I took a seam ripper to it
five minutes after sewing and never had the chance to consider
photographing the mess.
After that debacle, I quilted the whole thing in an effort to get a fresh start. Then I re-pressed the bias binding and rolled it back up into storage, on the hunt for another
solution.
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| Quilted the entire piece after ripping off the bias tape... |
It wasn't long before I recalled that I've done similar projects substituting bias binding
with ribbon. In fact, just a little over a year ago, I used this black/white/ribbon with this exact same fabric on a neck pillow that I made for my other half.
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| Attach ribbon to vinyl along bottom... |
I sewed the ribbon to the piece of vinyl first, extending its length
a bit, which I needed to do. Then I positioned it flush along the bottom
of the (folded) fabric before sewing it onto the top layer. (The raw
ends of the ribbon were tucked inside between the folded edges.)
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| Attach ribbon to remaining sides... |
To secure the two sides of the slipcase — remember that this is still just a
really long piece of finished fabric folded onto itself at this point — I
wrapped ribbon around the edges (the ribbon ends were folded under to
prevent the raw edges from showing) and then used many clips to keep
everything together before I took it to the sewing machine.
I wish I could say that the sewing went perfectly, but it didn't. Sewing
as close as I did to the edge of the ribbon, it's difficult to know if the other half of the ribbon underneath is caught up in the same stitching.
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| Finally done! |
There were two small areas that I had to go over again to secure the back half of the ribbon. However, if your
fabric/ribbon has a busy enough print (like this one), repairs are not as
noticeable as you'd think.
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| Vinyl viewing pocket for "on the go" use... |
I'm totally satisfied with how this slipcase turned out, despite troubling moments. The fit is snug — which is important — so that means at least I was working with the right measurements from the beginning.
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| Storage pocket... |
Oh, and the whole thing still fits into this original tablet envelope from five years ago. This will provide additional protection on the road.
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| For extra protection... |
Speaking of the original tablet, I've decided that it has a mind of its own and
doesn't want to be replaced. Ever since the new tablet came onto the scene,
the old one has been positively well behaved. Yes, it still has that dead zone
along the left edge, but that was a problem I was living with and could accept.
I've heard about children and pets exhibiting similar behaviour, but electronic devices? How absolutely bizarre is that?
'Til next...
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