Several years back- my dad gave me a Kindle Fire as a gift. I’ll be honest- it was kind of lost on me for a while (other than binge watching OITNB while sewing bulk orders for Monarch Couture and doing the same again with Once Upon a Time when I painted my kitchen cabinets) Seems to me that a Kindle is supposed to be more of a tool for reading- than for Netflix- but alas- I did not utilize it as such. Cut to the end of 2016 when I sat down with myself and wrote out a list of qualities and actions that I wanted to see within myself. One of these was that I wanted to be a person who read more books. As a child I devoured books (I reading Stephen King’s: The Eyes of The Dragon at age 9 and East of Eden for fun when I was 12 years old) but you could say that in my High School years I started getting distracted by all of the things your rightly told not to do- so reading started to become something I did to pass the test as opposed to something I did to pass the time. Although my high school antics did not last very far into my adulthood- my reading, unfortunately did continue to suffer.
Well I’m happy to say that I’m already off to a great start this year, most likely getting through 3-4 books in January alone. It certainly helps that I’ve kicked my cellphone out of my bedroom and replaced it with a good old fashioned alarm clock- so now I’m in the habit of reading before bed, as opposed to cruising the black hole of hypnotic internet doom on my iphone. But even with this great start- most of my reading was still of the paper variety. Then, last week I had to read a book on a deadline and I realized that ordering it to my Kindle was instant- whereas the ship date on the paper copy was too late. I started reading it 10 minutes later and my actual love for the beauty of reading on a kindle was officially born. I will always love and cherish paper books- but I’m seriously digging my new reading buddy. The best part is how easy it is to look up words (I’m a firm believer that, when reading, it’s important to look up all words that you don’t fully understand) which let me tell you, would have really come in handy when dealing the all of the specialized architecture terminology in The Fountainhead.
All of this brings me to the real reason you’re reading this blog RN- the combination of my excitement for thrifted sheets and my newfound Kindle obsession- united to inspire a DIY Kindle holder created from a thrifted sheet, an scrap of dress, and some leftover fabric. I’m super happy with my new case! The old one was practical but conservative and starting to get crusty AF.
It starts with your basics, fabric, quilt batting, measuring tape, cutting tools. I have a rotary cutter which is great for projects like this- but it’s not a must.The first step was to cut out my sheet scrap. I used my crusty old holder as my low key guide.Slice…Next I cut out my inside fabric the same size as my sheet scrap- make sure you cut out a piece of same size batting as well.For reference- the pieces for my kindle fire turned out to be 12 inches x 9 inchesI decided I wanted an inside flap as well so I cut out a piece of my inside fabric as well as another same sided piece of different fabric, that ended up being 9 inches by approx 4.5 inchesI sewed these together at the longer edge. You can also create this flab by folding fabric, or using the same fabric- I just opted for this look.I understitched this seam and ironed it.Next using a scrap left over from my Thanksgiving dress Redux– I cut out a piece to become the actual kindle holder.I pressed all the edges under sew it was a touch bigger than the Kindle.I then cut some more small scraps and ironed them under as well.I sewed these edges down…Then pinned them in place at a diagonal across the edges, folded back the excess and ironed it down. I then sewed everything into place by sewing all around the edges.The result looked like this:I then placed the inside flap and holder section where they needed to go and sewed everything into place.After some fiddling around with design concepts, I decided that I wanted a contrasting flap that wrapped around the backside (leaving the pretty flower on the front on display) so I cut out a flap and sewed it together.I then flipped this inside out with some help on th corners from my Purple Thang.Maybe it’s the blonde in me- but I always have to think really hard when setting things up to sew together which will later be flipped inside out. I’ve messed up far to many times so i always think it through and ensure that all the pieces are properly placed. This was the inner panel with all pieces including the closure flap.On top of this is the outside piece face down (right sides together)The final layer is the batting. Then everything is pinned togetherI sewed it all together except a small opening at the bottom.Through this opening everything can be flipped right side out.I ironed everything after it was right side out and used tiny (invisible) hand stitching to sew the bottom together.The final step was to sew on button for the closure flap. I used my machine to create button holes……and used an iron off FriXion pen to mark through the button holes where the buttons would go.Love the pretty contrast on the back of this case.The inside carries my Kindle so well and the flap creates space for another small book or notebook. 🙂The front is simple and elegant and of course is going to match my sheets so well when I’m reading in bed!
I am over the moon with this lovely new case. I just love the fact that it can be made with sheets and scraps. What do you want tomato out of sheets?? I’d love to know. I’m off to read more stories in style!
365daysofthrift 
Love this! Such a great idea.
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