Featuring: FreeSpirit Fabrics Murano by Odile Bailloeul
Pattern Design by: Sally Gauntlett
Sewn by: Sally Gauntlett

Something I’m trying to do more, since I mostly work from home, is to get out more and work in a local café or park for a little change of scenery. It’s always useful to have something to protect my laptop when transporting it around and keeping all those handy bits and bobs together such as chargers and memory sticks. I’m so excited to be bringing this tutorial to you today – I hope it’ll be a super useful one and a great gift idea too!

A confident-to-advanced beginner with some sewing experience will enjoy sewing this project. If you’ve not done any quilting before this project will be a great introduction for you. I’ll take you through the process step-by-step and share a few handy hints and tips along the way.

Skills Learned: Quilting, applying bias binding
Skill Level: Advanced Beginner
Finished Size: 14” wide x 10” high (35.56cm x 25.4cm)

FABRIC SUPPLIES

Main fabric – 5/8yd (.57m). I used:

• Danieli Grande – Rose | ROSE

Lining Fabric - 5/8yd (.57m). I used:

• Vetro - Marine |MARINE

Bias Binding - 5/8yd (.57m). I used:

• Basilico - Gold |GOLD

Each piece of fabric used measured 40” x 21”. You will be left with some off cuts from this amount that you can use at a later date. You may need more or less depending on the size of your laptop.

You will also need the same measurement of fusible fleece or quilt wadding and something to close the sleeve with. I am using a Prym snap fastener but Velcro, a press stud or button and loop would also work.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

• Cutting mat (optional)
• Rotary cutter (scissors can be used here instead)
• Ruler
• Fabric pen or chalk marker
• Pins
• Safety pins
• Scissors
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• A sewing machine quilting foot (optional)

CUTTING MEASUREMENTS

You will need to cut the fabric to the following measurements. (Measurements given here are for my personal laptop. Please measure your laptop before using the method below.)

1 x sleeve main fabric 14 x 26”
1 x sleeve lining fabric 14 x 26”
1 x sleeve fusible fleece or quilt wadding 14 x 26”
1 x pocket main fabric 8 x 14”
1 x pocket lining fabric 8 x 14”
1 x pocket fusible fleece or wadding 8 x 14”
Approx 90” of 2” wide bias tape (instructions for how to do this will be given later on)

HOW TO MEASURE FOR YOUR OWN LAPTOP

You will need to measure your laptop and add 2” to the width. This will determine how wide you need to cut your fabric. Next, measure the height of your laptop, add 2" and then double it, this will give you the height of your sleeve. Then, add 5” onto the height for the sleeve flap and a bit of wiggle room.

Formula

Width = laptop width measurement + 2”
Height = laptop height measurement +2" (x 2) + 5”

PREPARATION

If your wadding is fusible, fuse this to your main fabric pieces according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

MAKE THE BIAS TAPE

The amount of bias tape needed will be in proportion to the size of the laptop sleeve you are making. I’ve given a rough estimate of 90”. If you would like to calculate a rough amount, we will be finishing the top edges of the sleeve and the top and bottom edges of the pocket and all around the edge of the sleeve once it’s folded.

Step One: Fold your bias tape fabric selvage to selvage. The fold of your fabric should now be at a 45-degree angle.

Step Two: Press your 45-degree angle in place and cut along the pressed fold.

Step Three: From the cut edge of your fabric, draw lines 2” wide at a 45-degree angle using your cut edge as a guide to follow when measuring.  Keep drawing lines until you have around 10” more than the amount of bias tape you will need.  Cut along each line so that you now have several strips of fabric.

Step Four: Trim the pointed edges of your fabric strips so that they are straight.

Step Five: Place two strips of fabric, right sides together at a right angle (90 degrees). Pin and sew a line of stitching 45 degrees across the corner.

Continue to join the strips in this way until they are all sewn into one long strip.

TIP: As you are sewing, make sure that the join will allow your fabric to sit in a straight line when opened to the right side as shown below.

Step Six: Trim your seams and press them open.

Step seven: Press your long strip of fabric in half and then fold the raw edges into the centre and press again forming a tape (see image below).

Your bias tape is complete, leave the bias tape to one side for now.

LET’S GET QUILTING

Step Seven: We need to form a quilt ‘sandwich’ for both our pocket and sleeve fabric pieces. To do this we need to layer our wadding in between our main and lining pieces.

If your wadding isn’t fusible, lay it on top of your main fabric with the wrong side facing up. For both methods, place the lining fabric on top of the wadding with the right side facing upwards.

Secure the ‘sandwich’ together with some quilting or safety pins.

TIP: Make sure that all of your layers match up and that nothing has puckered underneath as you pin. It can be helpful to iron the layers in place before pinning as this can temporarily fuse the fibres together.

Step Eight: Using a chalk pencil or erasable fabric marker, draw lines from the top to the bottom of both the sleeve and pocket quilt sandwiches, 1” apart (you may need to re-jig your safety pin placement as you go).

TIP: If you’d prefer a different quilting pattern, feel free to use your own creative licence here!

Step Nine: Sew a straight line of stitching along each marked line from top to bottom using a long stitch length. Remove your safety pins as you go and make sure your fabric isn’t puckering on the underneath.

TIP: Using a quilting foot for your sewing machine will help feed the fabric through evenly and prevent the layers puckering.

Your quilting is done!

BIND, BIND, BIND

Step Ten: We need to finish the raw edges of the top and bottom of our pocket and the top opening of our laptop sleeve.

TIP: If your fabric has a directional print, make sure that you bind the edge that will be facing the right way up when the fabric is folded.

Cut a piece of bias tape the width of your pocket top and bottom and the top opening of the laptop sleeve leaving around 1/2” extra at each end.

On each piece, open out the bias tape and pin the edges right sides together along the raw edge of each piece. Sew the tape in place along the 1/2” pressed line.

Step Eleven: Trim the raw edges of the quilt sandwich slightly and fold the bias tape over to the wrong (lining) side on each piece and pin in place enclosing the raw edge and hiding the line of stitching you just made.

Pin in place and carefully sew ‘in the ditch’ from the right side on all pieces, making sure that you are catching the binding on the underside as you go.

TIP: Sewing in the ditch means to sew directly where the edge of the main fabric meets the start of the binding. You are effectively trying to sew into the top side of the seam you just made. This helps create an almost invisible line of stitching from the top side.

ATTACH THE POCKET

Step Twelve: Place your laptop on top of your quilted sleeve and fold so that it fully encases the laptop. This will help us decide where the pocket should sit.

Place your pocket, with its bound top and bottom edges (directional print up) on top of your sleeve so that the bound bottom edge sits just along the edge of the sleeve fold. Roughly pin in place.

Step Thirteen: Remove the laptop with the pocket still pinned in place and, using a ruler or a tape measure, check that the pocket is pinned at a level distance from the top edge and the top of the quilt sleeve.

Adjust the pocket if necessary and pin it in place. Sew the bottom edge ONLY of your pocket to your laptop sleeve.

CREATE THE FLAP CURVES

Step Fourteen:  Using something round. A kitchen item usually works nicely, I used the top of my coffee canister, place the curve of the round item against the corner edges of the flap.

Draw around the curved edge with a chalk pencil or erasable fabric marker. Cut the around the line to create your curved edge.

BIND THE SLEEVE EDGES

Step Fifteen: Now we need to bind the edges of our laptop sleeve, in a similar way that we did earlier, to finish everything off nicely.

Fold your laptop at the bottom of your pocket and, starting at the left bottom corner and leaving around ½” of binding extending past the edge of the sleeve, pin your bias tape all around the edge of your sleeve right sides together.

Use lots of pins around the curved edges and make sure that your bias tape is lying flat. The stretch in the bias-cut fabric will allow it to sit nicely around the curve.

Step Sixteen: Sew your binding to your sleeve, following the pressed ½” fold line being careful not to cause any puckers around the curve and taking care to go slow where the fabric layers are a little thick!

TIP: When sewing around the curves, it can be helpful to stop, raise the presser foot, and maneuver the fabric around to avoid puckers.

Trim the quilt sandwich slightly and cut snips into the binding at the curved edges.

Step Seventeen: Fold the extra ½” of binding we left at the corners to the wrong side of the binding and then fold again to enclose the raw edge of the quilt sandwich all around the edge of the sleeve. Pin in place taking care that everything is sitting neatly at the bottom corners and flap curves.

Step Eighteen: Since it will be the underside of the binding that is mostly on display in the sleeve flap, this time we are going to sew on the underside of the binding to make sure we get a really neat line of stitching. Sew the binding in place from one bottom corner, all the way around to the other end.

Step Nineteen: Secure the open ends of your binding at the bottom corners of the sleeve together with a few hand stitches to neaten.

Step Twenty: Place your laptop inside the sleeve and fold the flap over. Roughly place a pin in the centre of the flap through to the pocket to determine where your popper will need to sit.

Attach your popper or alternative fastening in place.

And we’re done! Stand back and admire your beautiful new quilted laptop sleeve.

I really hope you enjoyed sewing up your new laptop sleeve. You can of course repeat this tutorial for the other devices in your house, phones, iPads, kindles it’ll work for anything just adapt the measurements as needed.

If you give this tutorial a go, please do share a photo on Instagram and tag me @secret_life_of_a_seamstress so that I can see it. Don’t forget to tag @siysewityourself too.

Happy sewing!

Sally x

Fabric Details:

To view the complete FreeSpirit Fabrics Murano by Odile Bailloeul, click here.

To find a retailer near you click here.

Learn more about Sally here.

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