DIY Kindle Fire Case { Tutorial }

This year for my birthday {I turned 29 for the first time} my husband and daughter bought me a Kindle Fire.

Unfortunately it wasn't a surprise since almost every store within an hour from our home was sold out and we had to drive all over God's creation in order to find one. I guess that's what I get for having a birthday right after Christmas, not that it was my choice.

So once I had my Kindle Fire I realized that there are not very many choices when it comes to cases. I looked in stores, on Amazon.com, on eBay, and just plain googled but didn't come up with much of anything that looked different from anything else. So instead of buying a generic case for $30 at bestbuy I decided to try making one myself.

I am moderately crafty, but still a novice with the sewing machine so trying to plan out the pattern was a nightmare. However, after a couple tries I finally figured something out. All my hard and frustrating work paid off for you because now you wont have to do all of that trial and error.

What you will need:

Cardboard

Rotary Cutter &/or Scissors

2 Complementary Fabric's {About 1/4 Yard of each}

Sewing Machine & Thread

Straight Pins

Elastic Band

Spray Glue

Crafters Glue

Cut Your Cardboard

I started by cutting cardboard. My husband installs for one of those satellite companies {don't think I'm allowed to name them} so we always have really strong cardboard boxes laying around. I used my rotary cutting tool because it was much easier than trying to take a scissor to it. I assume you can also use a box cutter if you do not have a rotary cutter.

I cut a front board, a back board, a smaller backboard, a 1" spine, a 1/2" spine, and a small flap which was about 3". I would give you my exact measurements but since you can modify this tutorial for any eReader or tablet I just suggest you measure your device and add about an inch to the height and width.

Cut Your Fabric

I used a print on the front cover, the front inside flap, and the board that the kindle will mount on.

I used a plain brown fabric for the rest of the case.

For the front cover I cut my fabric 1" larger than the cardboard vertically, but the same measurement horizontally since I want a little bit of the plain brown fabric on the front panel.

For the inside flap I cut the fabric 1" bigger than the cardboard both vertically and horizontally.

For the mounting board, I cut the fabric two inches bigger to make sure it would wrap around the board nicely.

Then I laid out both spine pieces, the back cover, and the flap and measured the length.
Then cut two brown fabric pieces. One 4" longer than the measurement, and one 5" longer than the measurement. I also added one inch to the height.
Next I ironed all the fabric and started to prepare them to be sewn.

Sew Your FabricI started with the front cover print fabric and the longer solid brown fabric.
I placed the front cover fabric on the brown fabric print side down and prepared them to be sewn by placing pins in them. I also used a fabric pencil and ruler to draw a line where I will be sewing since I am still a beginner. Then I sewed the fabric together following the line I drew.

Then I folded the print side over and pressed the iron over it to make a little crease and sewed that crease in place.

Then, I sewed the inside over to the other brown piece of fabric. I ironed the crease flat on this part but did not make an additional stitch.

I then took both pieces of fabric and placed them together print side touching. I added a piece of batting to the side that will be going on the inside and pinned the fabric together.

Next I sewed three sides of the fabric creating something like a pillowcase.

Then I cut the coroners off so that they would be rounded when I turned it right side in.

Next up! I turned the case right side in.

AssembleThen slid my first piece of cardboard in the open end.

 I slid the cardboard all the way to the end, making sure the batting ended up on the correct side, them stitched a line down the side holding that piece in place. {I thought I had a picture of the sewing but I think I may have accidentally deleted it thinking it was a duplicate of another step.}

I followed the same steps for the rest of the cardboard and at the end I turned the fabric inside and stitched a seem to close it all up.

All that is left to do now it create the board that holds your Kindle.

I started by gluing the fabric to the board. I used a little spray glue directly on the fabric then crafters glue around the back.

 After the glue dried, I added elastic to the corners. I used about 5" strips.

After they dried, I put a tun of glue on the back and pressed it in to the back of the inside part of the case.

One it dried, it was good to go!! Here is what it looks like done!

Now, what I would do differently.

• I would add one more 1/2" piece on the end so that it has a place to rest when opened like in the last picture.
• I would also move the batting. Instead of putting it on the inside over I would put it on the inside of the end flap.
• I would look for some pre-cut cardboard or something hard like it. Once it had it in the case I realized a few of my cuts were crooked.
• Last, I would add velcro, or an elastic strap to keep it closed.

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