The laptop case of doom

It started with a phone call from my neighbor. She needed a birthday gift for her business partner, but had been unable to find exactly what she was looking for in any store. She has a vision of a case that would fit a small laptop pretty snugly, that would lay open flat, and that looked stylish. I said rather skeptically that I didn’t think I’d be able to do it without a pattern. “No problem!” she says, “I can put together a pattern for you!” And so I agree, thinking to myself that it shouldn't take too much time/effort/etc. You see where this is going, don't you?

The next week, she comes over with a sketch. “Well, I know you wanted a pattern. But then I realized I don’t know how to do that. So I drew this instead.”

Fortunately, she has also done some research on the laptop and knows the dimensions. She also has a bag of materials, including upholstery weight grey corduroy, an orange upholstery weight suede-textured polyester, black stretch velvet(!), thread, peltex, and a parka zipper. I tell her I’ll do it for $50.

At this point, I’m kicking myself... what have I gotten myself into???

I spend many hours cogitating on the project. I finally commit to some measurements on paper. I buy additional materials—canvas and fusible fleece (because I just didn’t want to deal with the peltex, and the fleece seemed like it would provide more cushiness), some black poplin (to use as lining for the pocket), and a zipper (since I couldn’t figure out how to make the parka zipper work). And on Sunday night, I cut and sewed. Six hours later, I had this:

Yay! It turned out pretty well and looks just like the sketch. Then, I attempt to put a laptop-sized book into it. It fits. But just barely... like super-snug barely. I failed to account for the bulkiness of the multiple layers of fabric (and fleece and canvas)—so it just ended up too tight. Dang it!

I call my neighbor over to check out the case, make sure it is indeed what she’s after before I invest any more time in making another. She checks it out, and offers many compliments on how well-constructed it looks (and I blush proudly), but decides that the straps and the accent trim need to be narrower. I recalculate all of my measurements, making the bag bigger and the straps and trim narrower. I also figure out how to make the parka zipper work like a luggage zipper (where the two sliders meet in the center). Then I try again. Five hours later:

The inside (it even lays flat!):

Compared to the first one:

I had to improvise a little on the outside pocket because I didn’t have enough fabric to do it in one piece. But I actually think it looks pretty snazzy.

Another view of the outside:

My neighbor picked it up on Friday afternoon. She seemed really happy with it. Thank goodness.

This project caused me stress on so many levels, it wasn’t even funny. After attempt number one, my husband even suggested that I call my neighbor and just tell her I couldn’t do it—it wasn’t worth the stress, and definitely wasn’t worth the $50 for the hours of time and frustration. I practically yelled back at him, “That is NOT an option!” Sigh. Stupid, stubborn, Robin. But, in the end, I got it done. And, on the bright side, I even learned some things:

• How to turn a parka zipper into a head-to-head slider zipper.


• Painters tape is great for getting obnoxious fuzzies off of stretch velvet.


• My machine can sew through multiple layers of upholstery fabric with no problem. (I think at some points, I had 8 layers plus zipper).


• If I really put my mind to it, I can do some pretty cool stuff.

Dear Baby Jane: B-11

Block number/name: B-11 “Melissa’s Cross”

Date completed: May 16, 2008

Number of pieces: 21

Notes on block: I'm feeling kind of proud of this block. Because the one in the Dear Jane book and the software was significantly different than the actual Jane Stickle block, I went ahead (as others have) and redrafted it. I used Electric Quilt 5, and it was kind of a challenge for me because I hadn't tried creating my own blocks before. But I think it worked out really well as the completed block looks very similar to the one in the original quilt. And I think my handpieced curves even look pretty good. Yay!

This has felt like such an unproductive week. The busy-ness has been overwhelming me toward inactivity. So rather than actually accomplish anything, I read trashy fiction. I finished one book, and read two others. And I only completed this one Dear Jane block.

To itemize: I still have another DJ block, my Star Quilt Along block, a laptop case that needs to be created this week (ugh… I’m sure I’ll have more to say about that later, for now I'll just say that it fills me with trepidation even thinking about it), “Fairy Flight” to finish (because baby Grace was born on Thursday, May 15th!!!), and (of course) all of the miscellaneous other projects I want to complete, and the other ones I want to start. In addition, I’m volunteering for PEPS as a group leader, and my group starts on Tuesday—and I’m trying not to go crazy about that (I’m also starting to feel nervous, though I’m excited about it too). On the bright side, the big freelance project I was working for is done (huzzah!)—so I at least don’t have that hanging over me any more. But right now, I’m just feeling tired.

Dear Baby Jane: B-10

Block number/name: B-10 “Jud’s Trophy”

Date completed: May 10, 2008

Number of pieces: 29

Notes on block: It took me about 3 hours to piece this one. I worked on it at the end of a really nice afternoon with Keith’s family. First we spent some time looking at recent pictures of the boy and he said his first word!!! A picture of the cats was on the screen and he pointed at it and said, “Itty!” And then he did it again at the next picture of the cats. Pretty darn close to “kitty.” We’ll take it!

We all went out to dinner, ordered off the kid’s menu for the boy for the very first time, and had a great time together. We got home and put the boy to bed, sent off the family, and then I got to work while Keith and some of his buddies gamed it up in the other room with their PSPs and Monster Hunter Freedom 2. It was actually kind of fun listening to them as they played together. That game seems pretty wacky.

Star Quilt Along, Week 2

Yay! I finished my second block in amandajean's Star Quilt Along.

Pretty in pink! My seam allowances were much better in this one than the first (which was a smidge small). The key for me: a scant 1/4". I think it had been so long since I'd machine pieced something that I kind of forgot how get an accurate 1/4". But, I'm back on track now.

I was bad this week though. I went out to buy some basting glue and saw some fabric I just had to have for this quilt. So much for making it entirely from the stash! But it will still be a mostly-stash quilt.

Dear Baby Jane: B-9

Block number/name: B-9 “Tinker Toy”

Date completed: May 7, 2008

Number of pieces: 13

Notes on block: I kept going round and round in my head about these fabric choices. I knew I loved the stripe, but wasn’t sure I’d love it in the corners. Inspired by Jane Weston’s block in the Dear Baby Jane Flickr pool, I went ahead and used 3 colors, one of which is my first repeated green in the quilt (I also used this dark green Moda marble as an accent in B-4). At first I wasn’t sure I liked it. When I looked at it this morning though, I felt really happy about it. So yay!

Dear Baby Jane: B-8

Block number/name: B-8 “Water Lily”

Date completed: May 6, 2008

Number of pieces: 12

Notes on block: While my mom was visiting on Friday afternoon (and the boy was napping), we sat together at the kitchen table and chatted. I also pieced the background for the block. She asked about the project I was working on, and I had fun telling her about the Jane Stickle quilt and the Dear Baby Jane quilt-a-long, and I got to show off my blocks. It was fun getting to share my project with someone in real life—particularly my mom. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to complete the block until this evening. Once again, our house has been beat down by illness (thankfully, at least the boy has been spared this time around!). As a result, everything is a little behind, including Dear Jane.

Caffeine buzz

After my 6:00 latte last night, I was ready to sew, sew, sew! I stayed up way too late (the power of caffeination!), but I completed two projects for the boy. First was a much-needed new pair of pajamas:


I used Kwik Sew 3527. This is the second time I've made this one, and I'll definitely be using it again. Read my pattern review for more details.

Next up was a very cute shirt:


How could I resist that fabric? Two of my favorite things: sharks and green. How cool is that??? I used Kwik Sew 3146. Read my pattern review for more details. I am very pleased with this one. I went to Babies'R'Us today looking for pants (gah! Does no one sell pants after March?) and scoped out their shirts as well. They were not nearly as well-constructed as this shirt. I already have plans for another one. And apparently I need to add some pants to the queue.