Hey everyone
So, the other day I finally got around to making a case for my baby – er – ipod mini.
(see pic below) I ‘lined’ it with felt for some protection, and there is plastic protecting the screen and the wheel. I found it tricky, actually, cause its so small and theres so much to sew. I’m pleased, the only thing that bugs me is the way the fabric at the top of the screen gets pulled up by the elastic fastener on the back. Also, i embroidered around the edge afterwards, cause i didnt like the raw edge. I think my next one will have one of those little attaches-to-the-strap-of-your-purse straps incorporated into it.
UPDATE: Im adding the official apple.com measurements for the various ipods, for you crafter gifters. I tried the below link for a paper template to find screen and hole placement. I tested the ipod mini,
it didnt work, but if you are photoshop-able, you can resize it and have an accurate template.
http://homepage.mac.com/colinbaxter/ipod/If I have some time, and can figure out how, i'll post templates to-size.
| model | size in mm | size in inches |
| Shuffle | 84 x 25 x 8 | 3.5 x 1 x 0.3 |
| ipod; old | 100 x 61 x 20 | 4 x 2.4 x 0.8 |
| ipod; new (thinner) | 103 x 61 x 12 | 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.5 |
| ipod Mini | 90 x 50 x 12 | 3.6 x 2 x 0.5 |
| Nano | 90 x 40 x 7 | 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27 |
I just thought id point out that the measurements here dont translate directly to the measurements of this project, since this case doesnt have 'sides' that correspond to the thickness of the ipod; just one flat front piece whose edges half-wrap around the sides of the ipod... so you need to add a bit to the front ipod measurements to get the size of the fabric pieces for this project. PLUS you need to adjust for the thickness of the fabric... I added 1cm to the width measurment on
each side of my ipod mini to get the width measurement of my case.
TUTORIAL....I reccomend reading the whole thing before beginning project.
Difficulty level: Easy – Moderate.
I know the tutorial is long, but the process isn’t that long, I’m just a *detail oriented* person!
And, when I did this, it only occurred to me to take pics halfway thru, so some pics are missing for early steps – ample description will help, hopefully.
MATERIALS:-a piece of felt
-a small piece of fabric, 10cm wide x 23cm tall.
(ie: twice as tall as your ipod, plus extra for the over-the-top-flap, then as wide as your ipod, plus enough extra to make a seam. >>>> the finished dimensions of my case are 7 cm wide x 10.5 cm tall IE if you add 1.5 cm seam allowance (pretty generous) on sides, and 3cm at top for flap, you get 10cm x 23cm.)
- some kind of clear plastic for the ‘plastic window.’ (I re-used plastic packaging, but it’s looking bad already. I recommend clear vinyl.)
-pretty thread.
STEP ONE – make a templateMake a template of your ipod. I used a piece of clear plastic – like acetate. Put it on top of your ipod, and make an approximate trace. Cut out the window and wheel.
STEP TWO – cut your feltCenter your template close to the top of the piece of felt.
(leave AT LEAST 3cm of felt above the temple, or more depending on your own final closure method)
Trace inside the holes to translate the location of the window and wheel to the felt.
Cut out the window and wheel holes.
Double check over your ipod to make sure the holes are big enough, make any necessary adjustments. Make sure the hole for the window is a little bigger ( a few millimeters) than the window itself….
STEP THREE – cut your fabricLine up your fabric and your felt, trace inside the holes to translate the window and wheel holes from the piece of felt to the fabric.
Cut the WHEEL hole,
BUT DON’T CUT THE WINDOW OUT; instead, cut triangles so that you can fold over the fabric for the window, and have a pretty seamed edge around the window, rather than a rough cut edge.
Make sure every thing is lining up properly, and that when the triangular fabric window-flaps are folded over the edges of the felt window, that the hole is STILL big enough for the window of your ipod.
STEP FOUR – glue?Yes, glue.
Making sure everything is lined up properly, put some SMALL, sparing dabs of white glue of the underside of the fabric’s window-flaps.
Fold these flaps under and glue them to the felt. Glue should dry quickly – a few minutes.
See the picture below if this isn’t making sense….
STEP FIVE – plastic.Aside: test your plastic!!! Do a few seam tests with a scrap of felt and plastic, so you can see how close together your stiches can be before it starts having a ‘cutting’ effect on the plastic. (ie 2mm? 2.5mm? 3mm? 4mm?)Pin your plastic so it spans both windows, on the felt side.
Sew around both holes, (straight stitch) a little over 0.5 cm away from edge.
For the window hole, I first did the seam farthest away from the edge, then after that the second – closer to the window’s edge.
STEP SIX – close it up!depending on your final closure method (see step eight), this might be a good time to sew the back fastener onto the back of the fabric. It’s a tricky job once the sides are sewed up!!Fold this whole thing in half (ie folded edge at bottom of ipod.)
Pin the long edges of the fabric layers together.
Sew straight seam along these edges, leaving a 1.5 cm seam allowance. (ie 1.5 cm in from edge of FABRIC)
Just to reiterate, the final width of the case from seam to seam should be 7cm (for ipod mini)
(I did my pins lengthwise at this point cause I was fudging it along, and wasn’t sure how wide my fabric would need to be to accommodate my ipod. You can do that too, and check it against your ipod BEFORE you sew, or just *trust* my initial measurements of 7cm + 1.5cm on each side as seam allowance)
STEP SEVEN: trim.I trimmed the top opening; flush with the ipod along the BACK side of the opening, and along the Front it was flush at either edge, then coming up into a off-center flap that would accommodate accessing the lock switch and earplugs while in use.
Trim the long edges – leave them rough, or finish as you like. I embroidered along after all else was done.
STEP EIGHT: the back flap.Make the back flap as you please. Snap, hook, ribbon, whatev. Mine is an elastic-around-button style.
I sewed the ends of the elastic onto the end of my top flap with my machine, making it nice and secure. Then I sewed a button onto the back on the case. I recommend not making a closure that pulls the flap too tightly, this makes the top of the window pull up on the front of your case, which aint all that pretty.
Badda bing badda boom, ipod mini case.
