A few weeks ago I was looking for ideas on what to make for my boyfriend, John, for our anniversary. Fleece had just been released and I wanted to try working with it. I thought it would make a really nice lining for a laptop case, along with Eco Canvas as the exterior because it is so sturdy.
John loves flying his quadcopter (hobby drone) that he built himself. He also loves tinkering with and soldering the electrical components (especially after he crashes). I designed a custom print of hobby drones using his favorite colors, blue and green. If you like my print, you can find it here! When I found “Short Circuit (Green)” by robyriker I knew it would be a perfect print for the lining, as the “guts” of the quadcopter print.
MATERIALS:
- 1 yard Spoonflower Eco Canvas
- 1 yard Spoonflower Fleece
- One-sided ultra firm fusible interfacing (I used Pellon 71F)
- Zipper at least 6in longer than the widest side of your laptop (I used a 26in zipper, which was more than enough)
- Coordinating thread
- Zipper foot
- Scissors
- Rotary cutter
- Sewing ruler
- Iron
- Pins or clips
Project pieces cut out
Measure your laptop’s width and length. Add 2 inches to each measurement to account for the depth of your laptop plus seam allowance. My laptop measures 10” x 14.5”, so after I add 2” I get: 12” x 16.5”. Add 3 or 4 inches if your laptop is thick, or if you would like extra space around the laptop.
Using your measurements, cut two pieces from the Eco Canvas (exterior) and two pieces from the Fleece (interior).
The interface is super thick and cannot be sewn through, so we have to subtract seam allowance (1 inch) from our measurement. I cut two 11” x 15.5” pieces of the interfacing.
Interfacing ironed to the back of the Eco Canvas
Iron the interfacing to the Eco Canvas following package instructions. Be sure to leave an even 1/2 inch of Eco Canvas around the interfacing for seam allowance.
Lay your fleece lining face up. Place the zipper face up along the top edge and centered along the width.
Eco face down and pinned along zipper
Line up your Eco Canvas exterior face down so that you have a sandwich of Fleece, zipper, Eco Canvas. Pin in place.
Zipper stitched in place
Using a zipper foot, sew 1/4″ from the edge.
Zipper ironed right-side-out
Flip the panels right-side-out and iron seam flat.
Repeat zipper sandwich
Now, repeat the zipper sandwich for the other side: Fleece face up, zipper on top edge, Eco Canvas facing down. Pin and sew.
Zipper sewn on both sides
Flip the panels right-sides-out and iron flat. You can also cut off the extra zipper ends at this point.
Separate the exterior and lining panels so the exterior pieces are on one side and the lining is on the other, right sides together.
IMPORTANT: unzip the zipper almost all the way so you can turn everything out later!
Pin your exterior Eco Canvas right sides together, and the Fleece liner right sides together. Be sure to leave a 5” gap in the Fleece to turn everything around. I ran out of clips so I used pins for the rest! I find it helpful to pin the loose ends of the zipper so they stay aligned.
Sew 1/4″ all the way around your laptop case, leaving a gap in the Fleece. Be careful when sewing over the zipper ends.
Trim corners.
Trim the corners to be round so it’s easier to turn right-side-out next.
Case right-side out
Turn your case right-side out. The interfacing may be difficult to bend, but keep working it out. You can alway iron the case flat when you are done. Using a chopstick, poke the corners until they come to a point.
Either machine or hand sew the hole closed in the Fleece lining.
Put the fleece lining inside the case and then you’re done!
Find more clever ways to use Fleece on Pinterest, and don’t forget to share your makes with us by tagging #Spoonflower!
