We are thrilled to welcome Janet with Garnished Home as today’s guest contributor. Janet is a do-it-yourself-er of all kinds. She is a professional longarm quilter, works part-time at a quilt store, and is always working on some project for either her home or in her sewing space. She has done everything from concreting her kitchen counter tops to winning many awards on her quilts at national quilting shows! When she’s not keeping busy being creative, she spends time with her husband Tony and two dogs in her home in Southern Oregon.
Today she is sharing with us how to make a great cover for any of your tablet-like devices! But what’s cool is that she uses a product called Kraft-Tex……which is a really durable paper that acts and feels like fabric. As in, you can sew it, cut it, and even WASH it! But it won’t fray and kind of acts more like leather. Crazy….right?!?! Janet will explain how she created this adorable cover for her Kindle but will also explain how to adjust to fit whatever tablet brand or size you may have! Take it away, Janet!
. . . . .
To make this cover for your tablet, I used a new-ish product called Kraft-Tex (Here’s a Video about Kraft-Tex). Its an awesome Kraft paper that you can use just like you would use fabric. It’s comparable to the material that Levis tags are made out of – papery, leathery, very durable! I have fallen in love with it and am using it in many different ways. Check out my blog today where I’m debuting a new pattern using Kraft-Tex to make a sunglasses case!
Here are the supplies you will need.
Supplies:
***These measurements are customized for a “Kindle Paper White”. Instructions for customizing for a different sized tablet are at the end of this tutorial.
The first thing I’m going to have you do (before cutting anything) is wash the Kraft-Tex – Yes, wash it! Throw it in your washing machine with a towel or two to add some agitation, but no soap is needed. Then throw it in your dryer. Washing it will soften it and give what initially looks like thick paper, more of a great leather like appearance! Go ahead and iron it after washing it to flatten it back out again. Don’t worry, you can’t iron out the leather like wrinkles.
Then cut your pieces as directed in the supply list.
Next, take your 2 piece of coordinating fabric and your 2 pieces of Peltex and place them in front of you. Center the material over the Peltex (with the right side of the fabric facing up) and iron it to fuse in place. Turn the fused piece over and fold over the edges of the fabric over one side at a time using your iron to fuse the edges down. You can place a pressing sheet or a piece of parchment paper between the iron and the Peltex to protect your iron from the exposed fusible section if you’d like (or just be really careful, because it will make a mess on your iron). Repeat with second piece of material and Peltex. Your finished piece should look like this, the front side on the left and the back side on the right.
Now, take one of the fused pieces you just created and using a fabric marker, measure in 1” from each side of each corner and make a small mark. Lay a piece of elastic across each of the corners diagonally, lining up the left side of the elastic piece with the marks. Wrap edges of elastic around the back of fused piece and glue in place. (*Tip – give the glued area a quick iron to dry the glue faster!) This is what the front should look like.
And the back should look something like this.
On the second fused piece, feel free to place elastic pieces however you like. Be creative. I decided to create a large X to hold items such as a favorite picture(s), a notepad, or whatever you would like to keep handy.
After you have the elastic secured to the back, center the White Inside Kraft-Tex pieces (that are cut 5 ½” x 7 ½”) over the back of your Peltex/Fabric pieces and iron. The fusible of the Peltex that is still exposed on the back will hold the Kraft-Tex in place. (Yes, I’m using black down below for this sample…but if you’re trying to create the cover from the pictures at the very top, you’ll be using white.) Turn the piece over and top stitch about 1/8” from the edge of the Peltex, all the way around. This will secure the elastic in place.
Next, take the large piece of grey Kraft-Tex, lay it down in Landscape orientation and draw a line down the center vertically. The right side of the center line will be the Front of your cover. Using the chalk marker draw a line 1/4” from each side making a box.
Now comes the fun part — time to decorate the cover! Feel free to be creative and decorate it any way you’d like. I suggest keeping any kind of free motion sewing or topstitching within the marked chalk lines so that the bobbin thread isn’t visible on the inside. The fused Peltex pieces will cover your bobbin threads if you stay within the lines. I fussy cut some material around some ½” Hexie templates and stitched them down. I didn’t even take the paper template out.
On my cover, I cut a 4“ x 5 “ piece of white Kraft-Tex, glued it to the cover and then top stitched around it to secure it in place. Then I printed my quote onto some TAP — Transfer Artist Paper. (Make sure to mirror image any words that you transfer before you print it so that they come out the right way!) Then, I ironed it onto the cover, offsetting between the two colors of Kraft-Tex. I also stitched on a cut flower using free motion quilting. (If you have an embroidery machine you could embroider a small design on the front, just make sure it isn’t too dense of a design or it will perforate the Kraft-Tex.) Then, I top-stitched around the cover, being careful to stay within my chalked line! The possibilities are endless though — think fussy cutting material and fusing it on, using scrapbook paper to decoupage, the possibilities are endless – Make it your own!
After you’re done decorating your cover, turn the piece over and draw a line down the center like you did on the front. Get out your craft glue and spread it pretty liberally over the back of your fused pieces. Center one fused piece on each side, glue side down, lay on a flat surface and lay a heavy object over both sides. Leave to dry overnight and you’re done!
You now have a beautifully personalized Kindle cover!
Now, if you have a tablet that’s a different size, here’s how you can figure that out.
Measuring for your tablet device:
Measure your device and add 1” to each side for the size of your Peltex. Example – If your tablet measures 8” x 10” then cut Peltex piece 9” x 10”.
Add 2” to each side of Peltex for fabric measurement – Example – Peltex measures 9” x 10” so fabric will be cut 11” x 12”.
Inside Kraft-Tex pieces for behind Peltex will measure ½” bigger then Peltex. Example – Peltex measures 9” x 10” so Kraft-Tex will be cut 9 ½” by 10 ½”
Kraft-Tex for the cover – add 2” both width and height of table and that will be the measurement for ½ of cover. Double the width measurement to get the total width measurement, height will stay the same.
Hope that helps! And let me know if you have any questions.
-Janet
Janet just recently started a blog called Garnished Home and would love for you all to head over to her site and follow along. She can also be found on Facebook (Garnishedhome), or on Instagram (@garnishedhome)
. . . . .
Check out some other fun tutorials for your gadget.
The following can be made without even sewing a thing!
Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!
