Tutorial: Book-Style Kindle Cover

Okay, I’ll admit it, I don’t quite like Kindles. Add me to the list of people who pick them up suspiciously and make whiny comments like, “I miss turning pages,” “where’s the cover illustration?” and “it doesn’t smell like a book.” So when Nate asked me to make a cover for his new Kindle, of course I had to design it around a beloved, bulky, dust-catching, shelf-collapsing, old-fashioned book.



This cover is nice because you can read the Kindle without removing it, plus it provides protection without much extra weight or bulky padding. If you’d like to make your own, just keep reading!





Materials:
2 pieces of fabric for the body of the cover, 15 x 10.5"
2 pieces of accent fabric, 6.5 x 9.25"
2 pieces of sturdy cardboard or bookboard, 5.5 x 8.25"
Narrow elastic, half a yard or so
Heat N' Bond or a similar fabric adhesive (not necessary but recommended)
1 button
Basic sewing supplies


what you need


Step 1: Hem all four edges of your accent fabric. Fold each edge over by ¼ inch, press, and stitch. You will be left with two pieces sized 6 x 8.75."


hemmed fabric


Step 2: Position the accent fabric on one pieces of the body fabric. They should be evenly spaced from top to bottom. From left to right, however, you want more space on the right than on the left. The first accent piece should be .75” from the left side. Leaving an inch between the pieces, the second piece should be about an inch and a quarter from the right side (if that doesn’t make sense, take a look at the picture and use the measuring tape as a guide for positioning your pieces).


fabric positioning


Step 3: Use Heat ‘n Bond to attach the accent fabric to the body fabric (I didn’t do this, but wish I had – it will keep your accent fabric from stretching away from the body fabric). Then, sew the accent fabric to the body fabric by stitching over the seams already in place on all four sides of each piece.


body fabric and accent fabric, together forever


Step 4: Sew up the body fabric. Place the two pieces of body fabric right sides together and sew up both long sides and the LEFT HAND short side. That is the side that the accent pieces are positioned nearer to. The side that they are further form should be left open.


stitch it, stitch it good

Step 5: Admire your handiwork. Flip the cover right sides out and press. Now it’s starting to look like something!


if you used Heat N' Bond, you won't have those pesky wrinkles


Step 6: Add the cardboard. Slip your cardboard pieces inside the cover. They should fit quite snugly – depending on the weight of your fabric and the thickness of the cardboard, you might need to take your seams in a bit. When you have a good fit, remove the cardboard that is nearest to the open end, leaving the other piece inside. Topstitch a line down the center of the cover, alongside the left-side accent piece (securing the cardboard inside). Stitch another line one inch away from that, alongside the right-side accent piece (the white pinheads in this photo mark where the stitch lines should go). This will create the “binding” of the “book.”


create your binding


Step 7: Close it up. Slip the second cardboard piece back into the cover. Fold the raw edges to the inside and pin the cover shut. Take a piece of elastic (mine was about 3.5” long), loop it, and stick it into the seam. Sew it up, being sure to secure the elastic well (I simply topstitched, but if the seam will bother you, handsew an invisible seam).


almost done...


Step 8: Get ready to add some Kindle safety. Using a disappearing ink marker, tailor’s chalk, or simply a pin, mark 2.5 inches from each corner on all sides of the right-side accent piece (so you should have 8 marks total, 2 around each corner).


mark 2.5 inches...


Step 9: Sew on the elastic. Sew 4 pieces of 3” long elastic to each corner, securely handstitching each end to one of your marks.


make sure that it's secure!


Step 10: Finish it off with a button. Handsew a button to the front of the cover. Slip the elastic loop over the button to keep the cover securely closed.


a finishing touch


Step 11 (optional): Add some customzation! Trim, embroidery, stencils… you’ve got a basic cover, and now you can go crazy making it your own. Since Nate is a simple sort of guy, I left this one plain, but I dreamt of covering it with appliqués clipped from vintage embroidered hankies. If only one of my girlfriends would buy a Kindle!


That’s it! Now pop a Kindle inside and enjoy your newfangled reading technology.