As a reward to myself for doing a load of pro bono stuff, I bought myself a Kindle. I was sceptical about them initially but boyfriend got himself one and let me read a book on it and I was smitten. I did need a cover for it though. First of all otherwise I might get mine mixed up with his (and then where would we be? Reading the wrong book, that's where). Secondly whatever I'm reading normally gets slung into my bike bag, and thoroughly bashed about. The Kindle needs some protection. Thirdly, I still want it to feel like a book. There are loads of Kindle cover tutorials about on line, but I am particularly indebted to One Pearl Button's tutorial, in fact the actual construction of the cover is just a tweaked version of hers. What I have added is padding, a change in the way the lining is done and embellishment! Have a look at her version, she has contract panels inside and a button closing.
I apologise for the photos, boyfriend has taken my camera up various mountains on the Six Peaks Challenge so I had to use my phone. And despite having something to work from I was doing things on the fly more than usual so haven't photographed every stage as much as normal.
Anyway - without further ado:
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To begin with you need to cut two main pieces, one of your outer fabric and one of lining. I used linen for the outer fabric and quilting cotton for the lining. The pattern is at the bottom of the post. You will also need to cut one piece of main fabric, 4cm x 8cm (I have cut two here - losing one tab was one of the on the fly changes) you are also going to need some thick card (I used the back of a sketchpad), thread (obviously) a sew on or press on snap, 5mm elastic (about 20 cm) (not pictured) and (another on the fly change) batting. Depending on what design you do you might need fabric paint or other embellishments. I used fabric paint.One thing I would change if I did this again is to cut the outer fabric larger than I need then cut it so size after embroidery - the machine embroidery shrunk it up a bit.
Next step is to design a book cover. You might want to trace something off a favourite book, or make up your own book. I wanted something inspired by Wuthering Heights. I was going to do Heathcliff embracing Catherine's corpse in the graveyard, but then I remembered this doesn't actually happen in the book, and in any case it would be hard to embroider. I stuck with the graveyard theme, though and scribbled out a twisted tree and some graves, and the moon. The tree is a bit like the kindle logo, and lends itself well to machine embroidery. Remember that the right half of your picture will be the "front cover"
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I used dressmaker's tracing paper to trace the image on to the linen.
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Using an embroidery foot on my machine, I did the moon first, then the outline of the ground and graves, and the tree. (Tutorial on free machine embroidery) I went for a scribbley look, as you can see.
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The black thread doesn't show very well, so I used some:
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Also this would add a bit of sparkle
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Much better. You can see that I changed the left had grave to make it simpler. The back isn't very exciting, but it is the back cover! I painted the foreground with black fabric paint, and put it to one side to dry while I worked on the lining.
Mark the elastic placement on the lining
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You only need it on the right hand side.
To attach the elastic thread it through a tapestry needle and force it through the fabric. If you can make a hole with an awl first that will help.
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Thread it up to the top, then back down through the other hole on that corner. The elastic should lie flat, not be twisted and not be under tension. Secure each end by going back and forth over it a few times.
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Trim the elastic about 5mm from the securing seam, Do this on all four corners, then let your kindle try it on
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Check the kindle is secure by giving it a good dangle (over something soft, just in case). Poor Jules Verne.
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Fold your 4cm x 8cm piece in half and sew along the two raw edges, leaving the edge opposite the fold open. Trim the corners then turn out and press
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Once the cover is dry, pin your tab to the left hand side (ignore the other tab in this picture)
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Place the lining piece on top. Remember the elastic needs to face the back cover, not the front.
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Pin and sew around the top, left hand edge (back cover) and bottom. Turn right side out and press
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This is the point where I finished the cover, then wasn't happy, then went back and redid it. So the photos are just for illustration of each step, not how it should look at that stage.
One problem I had with the first finished version was that the lining fabric was pulling to the front. I fixed this by topstitching about 2mm from each edge. This is a precision task, but if you go slow it's not too difficult to get good results.
Next I cut the card. You need two pieces, each 14 cm x 21 cm. Use a good strong card.
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One of my changes from the first version was to add in padding. Add the padding now. I used quilting batting. It might be a bit thick but it does offer a good deal of protection. Garment batting might be a better idea though. I cut a piece about 28cm x 21 cm and slid it into the cover. It isn't there in these pictures, so just imagine it.
After the batting, slide in the first bit of card all the way to the back cover, between the outer layer and the batting (so the batting is inside). Stitch along side the edge of the card (as close as you can - I used a zipper foot) through all layers.
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Stitch another line alongside this line, Mine are 8mm apart. I used the zipper foot on the wrong side to get an even distance, but you could just mark the second line. Before you insert the card for the front cover, press on or sew on your snaps, one on the tab and the other on the front cover. Have a test-close (with the kindle in, and the card slipped in) before the snap placement as exact placement will depend on batting thickness.
Slide in the other bit of card.
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Pull back the fabric and trim the batting to the same length as the card.
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Fold the raw edges in on themselves and handstitch closed. I used a running stitch. Pop in your kindle and get reading!
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The pattern is quite straightforward. If you want to adapt for another e-reader or tablet, just draw round the tablet, then add a 1cm border. Then add a "spine" at least half as wide as the tablet is thick, to the fold line. Then add a 1 cm seam allowance all around (except fold line). For a thicker device (or thicker padding) you will need a longer tab. The elastic placement is 3 cam from each corner of the device.
The pattern:
(The pattern should measure 16.5 cm x 23.5 cm approx, so you will need to enlarge - I can't seem to embed it full size).
Happy reading!
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