How I beat a laptop sleeve into submission

Emily — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:36:19 +0000

Maybe some of you remember what happened with my first laptop attempt. It wasn’t so good. But, I did managed to salvage the exterior and the zipper from the wreckage and I gave it another try this weekend.
This time around I skipped the foam and went back to fusible fleece and batting. I’ve been using batting that I bought in a larger bag for about three bucks from Reny’s so it took a few layers. I used one layer on the exterior, two layers (one of fusible fleece) on the interior.I even basted the batting on first:
I use zippers by the yard, so I sewed carefully over the beginning and end of the zipper, just to make it easier while I sew:

The ultimate zipper tutorial is from twelve22, and that’s what I used for the zipper. You sew the the exterior, zipper, and lining for one side all together and then do the same thing on the other side.
And there it is! Now is a good time to top stitch and double check how the zipper looks before you sew it all together. Mine didn’t come out perfectly, at this point I was just happy that I didn’t have to force it through my machine.
Even at the very end, I was convinced that it wasn’t going to fit. It’s just barely big enough. I think in the future I’ll put a little more wiggle room in But now I have a laptop sleeve! Woohoo! I used Sunbrella fabric for the exterior and it was surprisingly forgiving to many many times I angrily ripped out seams.
On an unrelated note, my very supportive boyfriend took me to the Joann’s fabric President’s Day Sale before we went out to dinner for Valentine’s Day. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that the store was FILLED with women scanning the aisles and men trailing behind them dutifully holding bolts of fabric, patterns, and thread. And I got a tiny pink embroidery hoop, because I think it’s about time I learned to embroider. This blog (with a great Etsy store) inspired me. Oh boy.

Epic Fail

Emily — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:49:06 +0000

Well, I’m not sure who I’m going to blame for keeping me up way past my bedtime on Saturday night working on this mess of a project, but I think the ladies at the Joann’s cutting table could definitely be listed as enablers. I thought “oh laptop sleeve. No big deal. Then I’ll have a laptop case. Yay!” And somewhere along the way, the excitement turned to actual threats issued to fabric. Here is a picture at the start, so much promise *sigh*.
The applique portion of this project went really well. I got the idea for my friend Barb, who has the very best appliqued hooded sweatshirt of all time. So here’s where it went wrong:
1. Sewing high density foam is the worst. I was literally sweating trying to push it through my machine. I have no idea what made me thing that would work .
2. High density foam requires a big allowance in sewing, because it takes up a lot of space. I did not think of this.
So here’s the finished product. At about 3am:

If you can’t tell from the photo, this is an example of what happens when you double up foam and try to sew it. It is chewed up and spit out by the machine. I had no idea my machine was so cruel.

I don’t think it looks so bad from the outside. BUT, no matter how good it looks, it won’t work as a laptop sleeve if you CAN’T FIT YOUR LAPTOP INTO IT!!! I thought I would have been more disappointed, but thanks for the time of night (or morning) it was actually a little amusing. Word to the wise, if you think it might not be big enough when you’re cutting the fabric, you’re probably right.
So with all the seams ripped out, the pieces of the pattern are waiting for me at home. The foam is being punished so I think I’ll try the project again next weekend with some batting and fusible fleece. Anyone else have frustrating project stories to share or laptop sleeve successes?

On a Lark » Laptop sleeve

How I beat a laptop sleeve into submission

Epic Fail