Padded iPad case tutorial
I broke down and got myself an iPad 2. I wasn’t sure I wanted one until I saw all of the great magazines you can get on it now. I have a bit of a “paper clutter” problem, and I thought this might cut it down a bit. I also wanted to check out the new sketching apps to see if they would be a good “idea notebook,” and so far, so good… (if you are curious, I’m using the penultimate app and a Griffin stylus to sketch).
I got the new swanky cover from apple (thats fold up) but soon realized that I could not be trusted with JUST this cover.. I’m way too clumsy. I needed something padded. Plus I wanted a cover that I could store my stylus, headphones and a few other things in.
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| Too small |
If you follow me on Facebook, you know this isn’t the first case I’ve made! I measured my iPad the first time, made the cover, then realized that the iPad would NOT FIT!! So now I am the proud owner of an oversized Kindle case or a padded jewelry pouch- whichever you want to think of it as.
So back to the drawing board, and I came up with this one.
I added a zipper to the back- so I can stash my stuff in it- It actually works out quite well, as I have been putting my phone in the zip pouch too-
And just a note:
The pattern provided in this tutorial is NOT for commercial use or production. It is for personal use only by home sewers.
iPad Case Tutorial
Padded iPad case tutorial
Equipment
supplies
- 10″ x 12″ fabric for front
- 10″ x 12″ fabric for zippered pocket lining
- 10″ x 12″ fabric for flap lining
- 4″ x 10″ fabric for zipper panel
- 10″ x 10″ fabric for zipper panel
- 24″ x 10″ fabric for front flap and ALSO -1, 6″ x 10″ for front flap (you have three pieces total making up the front flap)
- 10″ x 12″ piece of Decor Bond Fusible interfacing
- 9″ zipper
- 2 pieces of auto liner 1/4″ foam cut to 10″ x 12″ you can buy this at Hancocks, it’s the stuff they line roofs of cars with
- 2 pieces of Minke or Snuggles cut to 10″ x 12″
- Misc. ribbons at least 2 yards
Instructions
- Attach your zipper to your two zipper panel pieces along the 10″ edge- the zipper will be a bit longer, that is ok. (a 9″ zipper is actually almost 11″ long) …. You are attaching one 10″ side of each piece to the zipper, right sides together (use a zipper foot).
- It will look like this when you are done.
- Press and topstitch along each side seam of the zipper. With the zipper closed, trim the piece down to 10″ x 12″.
- Place the wrong side of the zippered piece on top of the right side of the pocket lining piece. Baste.
- Cut a piece of ribbon to 5″, fold it in half, and stitch it to the upper left corner. Cut another piece of ribbon about 12″ long and stitch it to the center of the right side (make sure it’s centered).
- Stitch your iPad case front piece to your zippered piece (that you just created) with right sides together. Stitch around three sides, leaving the side with the ribbon loop open. As you stitch around the corners, sew in a curved line—clip corners. Set aside.
- Make a “sandwich” with your auto liner foam and minke. You want the “non-fabric” side of your foam to face out, with the wrong side of the minke facing the “fabric” side of the foam. (If your foam doesn’t have fabric on one side, don’t worry. Stitch around three sides as you did for the case outside, and curve the corners. This will NOT be a fun step, but go slow, and if you have a telfon foot, it will help you immensely! Trim seam allowances down to 1/4″.
- Turn the right side out.
For the outside flap:
- Stitch your three pieces together as desired, then trim down to 10″ x 12″. (Your pieces are deliberately cut too large, so that you can “offset” the center panel if you wish).
- Apply a 10″ x 12″ piece of Decor Bond fusible interfacing to the wrong side.
- I sewed two ribbons, one 2″ wide and one 1″ wide, to the center strip of the flap, just to add some interest- if you do this, make sure you sew the smaller ribbon in the CENTER of the flap so that it lines up with the other ribbon you placed on the cover.
- Cut a 12″ piece of ribbon and stitch it to the center of the flap.
- Place the flap outside and the flap lining right sides together, and sew around three sides (leave the side with OUT the extra ribbon open). Curve corners as you sew. Turn right side out and PRESS.
- Slip the flap into the case, with the RIGHT side of the flap matching the RIGHT side of the back of the cover and the raw edges matching. The raw edge of the case back (the part with the zipper) will be flush with the raw edge of the flap – Baste in place.
- Slip your padded lining piece into your cover, right sides together. Your padded piece will be right-side out, and your cover will be wrong-side out.
- Stitch raw edge of case, starting about 2 ” from center front, around to the back, then back around to the front- leaving a 4″ opening to turn case right side out.
- Turn the right side out.
- Machine stitch opening closed. (Just turn it under, press it down, and pin well and top stitch to close the seam.)
Thank you for posting this tutorial. I went out and got everything to make it, then I started on the project. I was making this for my mother-in-law because her birthday is coming up. I got up to this step: “Slip flap into case with the RIGHT side of the front of the flap matching the RIGHT side of the back of the cover. Baste in place.” And then everything FAILED. The following steps are completely unclear and don’t make sense. Why would the flap be put inside the case? Anyway, if you have time to clear this up, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise I’ll have to figure out something else for a gift. Thanks again from a frustrated sewer.
Beautiful fabric. Where did you purchase it? I can’t seem to find it. Can’t wait to make this for my new iPad2!
That Parisville fabric is one of my all time favorites. I wanted to do my whole bedroom over with it when I first saw it! Thank goodness that I didn’t, my hub wouldn’t have been too happy 🙂
I love it!! If I had an iPad, I would definitely make a padded sleeve like this to keep it in.
I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-padded-ipad-case-from-your-favorite-fabrics/2011/04/03/
–Anne
Just wanted to let you know that I love your tutorials, and all the cute projects you do. One of your tutorials for Moda is actually the one that I used for their monthly contest this last month! So thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Love this – that minky liner is fabulous! Now if I can only convince my hubby to get me an ipad…
BTW – just ordered your March bag pattern (good2bhomemade on twitter ring a bell?) ‘)
Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [01 Apr 01:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria
Thank you, thank you, thank you! My husband bought me an iPad2, and not knowing the dimensions were different, I made a gorgeous cover using OOP fabric, but it was too big 🙁 So now, time to make one that will fit!
Now I need and ipad 2 since I know how to make an adorable case for it! 😉
Thank you for posting this! Definitely needed it.
You are a GENIUS!
Thanks for the tutorial, now I don’t have an excuse to not make a cover for my iPad. I love the Parisville fabrics you chose, very pretty.
Just one more reason I want an Ipad 2!! Great tutorial!
This is super cute. I’ve got an iPad coming in a few weeks, so I’ll definitely be making one of these! Thanks for sharing!
Looks fantastic! Does this fit the Nook also?
It turned out beautiful! 🙂
are you really happy with your ipad??? Next week is my b day and my husband wants to buy me one. I’m not sure if I would use it. I love my laptop and wonder if having both would be a waste. Did you get the $15 internet that works anywhere? I’d love your feed back on it. If I do get it, I’m definatly making the cover… yours is so cute! I like it better than the ipad!
fun melissa! great tutorial. 🙂