My new toy!

For my birthday last month (39!), my husband gave me a Kindle Paperwhite. I decided I needed to make a cover for it.

Not long after purchasing my first Kindle (second generation), I found the "Padded e-reader cover sewing pattern" by BirdfulStitches on Etsy. I never actually made one though, because my husband gifted me with a fancy leatherette one with a built-in book light. So the pattern just sat in my stash until I received my latest toy. I went back to BirdfulStitches to see if she had an updated pattern that would fit the smaller Paperwhite. She did indeed have one, and she actually sent it to me at no charge. How friendly is that? Yay!

The pattern is very straightforward and requires only a few basic supplies: 3 coordinating fabrics (she calls for fat quarters, but you could get away with large scraps for the Paperwhite cover as it is so small), interfacing, batting, thread, and a button.

My only criticism is that the pattern includes only pattern pieces. As all of the pieces are square/rectangular, I really would have preferred measurements for easier cutting with rotary tools/rulers. I understand why the pattern is done with pieces-- to ensure that it is usable without any special tools-- but it would be cool if designers would include the information so sewists could just choose what works best for them. I went ahead and measured the pattern myself and then used my rotary tools to cut.

Other than that, the pattern was straightforward and very easy to follow.

I decided to finally use some of my Castle Peeps fabrics. Happy!

I actually ended up making a couple of dimensional changes, as I felt like maybe it would be a little too loose, and the corner triangles potentially could cover the screen. I cut 1" from the width of the cover, and 3/4" from the length. If I had it to do over, I would have only cut about 1/2" from each, as it is definitely a little tight now. I cut the corner triangles down by 1/2", which seemed to fit pretty well. (Or rather, I should say I tried to cut the triangles this way... I was anxious to get the cover done, and evidently didn't pay attention as well as I should have, resulting in some mis-matched triangles. But they still work!)

I had this button in my stash. It just seemed to work with the castle theme.

Here is a gratuitous shot of my new Kindle with its new cover under my lovely stained glass lamp (made by me, before children, when playing with cut glass was an acceptable hobby to do on the kitchen table... ha!).

And I totally LOVE my new Paperwhite. The built-in light is awesome and perfect and I love that the screen still feels like paper to my eyes. LOVE!