Handmade leather e-reader cover

Recently I decided to make a gift for my hubby myself again. That was the easy part of the plan. Now I only had to figure out what I was going to make.

After spending a lot of time browsing the internet for inspirations, I stumbled over a very cool tutorial on how to sew your own iPod or E-Reader cover on this blog: leafytreetopspot. I knew that I wanted to give this a try. Here is my version of it, this time in suede and sewn by hand.

Materials used:

Paper for drawing the pattern
Suede
1 solid note pin (or more appropriate leather craft tool to pre-punch holes)
Two sheets of felt (I used craft felt)
Embroidery floss
2 sewing needles for stitching
8 binder clips

Preparing the pieces

First, I took the paper and traced around the e-Reader.
I added some space to accommodate the height of the e-Reader and also to account for the margin next to the stitches.

On the pattern I also penciled in all the holes I was going to pre-punch with the pin in order to make the stitching easier.

Using the pattern to outline the final shape of the cover, I cut out two matching pieces of leather.

On the inside, I marked the top of the rectangle to avoid any mix ups later.

Then, I pre-punched the holes through the pattern into the first piece of leather right through the pattern.

The same was done with the second piece of leather but I flipped it over so that the paper was on the outside. This ensured, that the holes matched up once the insides faced each other.

Once all holes were punched, I took a short break to let my fingers recover a little.

Putting it all together

Throughout the project I used a saddle stitch. There are various tutorials on the internet showing how to do that stitch but I found the YouTube video from Tandy LeatherFactory very handy because they show two ways of doing this stitch, both, with one and two needles being used.


First, I stitched both tops and the decorative stitches on the front.

The craft felt was cut it just a little bit smaller than the leather pieces. Just small enough that it didn't stick out but still got wedged in properly once the pieces were sewn together.

At the top I also left a little bit more space in order for the stitching to be visible.

The loose ends of the threads for the decorative stitches can be woven in before the felt is being glued on or get tied together once the two pieces got stitched together and the knot can be hidden between the edges.

Then I glued the felt in place with glue stick.

At this point it was easy to see how to put the pieces together, since there was decorative stitching on top of both pieces. I used 2 binder clips per side to prevent the pieces from moving too much.

Then the moment came when it was time to try whether everything fits as intended. To my excitement, it did. The pen could be kept outside for easier reach or tucked inside the cover next to the e-Reader. Neither way it it had the tendency to fall out.

I am excited with the end result and so was the happy recipient of the gift. :)

Photowalk

A few days ago I took advantage of the sunny weather, grabbed my camera and went to "hunt" for some of the spring arrivals as well as some of the permanent residents of the region. I felt quite lucky with the variety of animals I encountered. I also wanted to play a bit with my ND filters so that they do not collect all too much dust in my storage bag.

My first stop was at Andrew Haydon Park to take a look at quite a nice group of Canada geese that were resting there.

I continued further down the Ottawa River to picture the Remic Rapids. I was too late to picture the guys riding the waves this time but instead played around with exposure times and ND-filters.

Most of the lookouts along the Ottawa River Parkway were still closed for the winter but the one at the Deschenes  Rapids was open to drive in. It was a great spot to picture Canada geese, ducks and sea gulls. First the seagulls were a bit shy when I pointed my camera at them but after a few minutes they started laughing away again. :)

The ducks and geese were quite busy wrestling each other for mates.

I also dropped by Shirley Bay to see what visitors are there now. As customary already, I also left some suet for them in the feeders, call it payment for model services. :)


There were two Red Squirrels,


a whole bunch of Redpolls,

two Mourning Doves,

a number of Red-winged Blackbirds,

two Chipmunks,

 a number of Common Grackles,

and one bird that I think is a Dark-eyed Junco.

What a great afternoon!

For the past 3 weeks I have been to Austria visiting family and friends.

By chance, I managed to be able to enjoy the first spring days warm enough to enjoy walks without the thick winter clothing. At least for me it feels kind of liberating and so I enjoyed my walks in the vinyards even more.

Pasque flower, Kuhschelle (Pulsatilla). They are rare by now and on the protected species list. Please, if you see them, consider yourself very lucky and make sure that the only thing you take away with you, are the pictures you took. 

There was even a little bit of snowfall still although that did not stay on the ground for long. Spring was  definitely moving in. The next few pictures are from my parents' garden - I just love the contrast of the fresh spring flowers surrounded by a little bit of snow.

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