Crafturday- An iPad Cover!

I spent some time over the past few months searching for a great e-reader pattern, one that would include sizes for lots of devices, and one that included a license to sell. Well, I found a great one, though I've lost the link (I have a PDF download of the pattern itself) and I've spent the past few weeks trying out different versions.

The fabric is called Fulham Road and it's by Alexander Henry. Constructing the thing itself was the easy part; the challenge is interfacing. For those of you who aren't sewers, interfacing is a layer that gives the finished product some stability and structure. Interfacing can be tissue-thin or thick as book board, and anything in between; it can be a fusible or iron-on layer that you adhere to the fabric, or a sew-in layer that sits either against the fabric layers or between them. It's essential to use at least something on any accessory-type project. If you don't, it's just going to flop around and have no heft at all.

The first time I tried, I chose a thin interfacing on the fabrics and a layer of quilt batting for padding; that was too cushiony. The next time, I went ultra-firm and found that unusable as well. The fabric wrinkled and I wouldn't have been able to turn it right-side out once I had sewn it. Then I tried sew-in fleece, and again it was OK but too soft. With this attempt, I used a layer of a firmer woven fusible (Pellon Shape Flex) on each main piece of fabric plus one layer of fusible fleece. I don't know if it's just right, but it's a big improvement and usable as far as I'm concerned. I would like to try a firmer fusible combined with the fleece, to see if I can give it a little more body, but I'm happy for now.

I'm not ready to start selling these cases- I still need to practice- but I made a big step forward!