Another Laptop Cover!!

Hi Everyone!

Okay, so I'm obviously on a roll here, not only with blogging, but also with laptop covers! 

So.....after suffering through the minor catastrophe of putting a hole in the other (more fragile) laptop cover (see my last post), I decided I should make a "sturdier" one for everyday laptop use and keep the "more fragile" one for another project that's whirling around in my head (more on that after it stops whirling and settles!).

Anyway, I loved the "lace" idea so I decided to try and adapt it to "sturdier" type. Fortunately, I had three Battenburg lace placemats that I'd purchased from a thrift shop a year or so ago for about $2 each if I remember correctly.  I used two and a half placemats total for this cover, and I'm quite happy that it's sturdy enough to withstand even my clumsiness! (which is saying a LOT!)

Here's how I did it:

Okay, forget "start to finish".  I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I had.  At any rate, this is one of the three placemats. However, all four edges were surrounded by a strip of plain cotton with a rolled hem edge on each placemat.  But I didn't like it, and it made it too large for the laptop, so I probably spent about two hours removing it by cutting around each flower edge.  Hint....use small scissors! They're great for this type of thing!

This is the stage where I was checking to see how to line up and attach the "flap" closure (from the half of the third placemat) to what would be the back placemat.

This shows where the flap was stitched to the back placemat.  Sorry, but I don't have a picture of the top placemat. It's identical, of course, and I just lined it up on top of this piece.  Once pinned in place, I stitched along the two sides and the bottom, following the outside of the flower design.  This created a "pocket" with a "flap" overhang closure.

This is why I LOVE coffee staining fabric!! And it worked beautifully! This shows both top and bottom placemats sewn together along the two sides and bottom (following the outline of the flower decoration), with the "flap" closure sewn onto the bottom placemat, and draped over the front.

I prefer coffee staining, although on occasion I'll use hot tea to stain fabrics, journal paper, etc.  Coffee is usually cheaper, and I think quicker!  I use a teapot full of boiling water, poured into a large bowl, and I had about half a cup of the cheapest instant coffee I can find.  Then I placed my "pristine white" cover into the bowl and swished it around with a metal spoon, letting it sit for about 30 minutes or so. This depends on how dark you want it; leave it in less if you want a paler color.  I usually don't rinse my cloth because that takes some of the dark pigment out, so I just wrung it out, then ironed it dry.  The heat from the iron helps "set" the color permanently. 

It suddenly occurred to me (about time too!) that I didn't have any cushioning fabric in the cover to protect the laptop! That was a big "DUH"!! moment, I can tell you.  Oh well, put the thinking cap on and see what I can come up with.  Ah Ha!!  I had this fabric, which is sort of a thick "batting", but it's a close weave.  Anyway, I just cut out a rectangle long enough to go around the laptop top and bottom, folded it in half, then stitched up the sides to create a "pocket" (a protective pocket at that!!).  :-)

I slipped it inside the cover to test for size, then I trimmed a couple of inches off the top edge so that it would sit just below the top of the lace placemat decoration (i.e., so you couldn't see it). 

This shows the protective "pocket" sitting inside the cover, just below the top, out of sight.  I didn't have to stitch it down because it was a snug fit. However, if I discover that it's slipping later on, I can always tack it down in the corners.

And here the cover is, with the protective pocket inside, just BEGGING ME to decorate it!!  Honest! I actually heard it begging!  And it took me awhile too! I kept coming up with all kinds of things, but I finally made up my mind and .........

VOILA!!

The lace on the flap cover at the top is an antique remnant that I glued in place, then stitched the small chain of pearls in place over the top edge.

The five flower clusters on the base are also antique, which I glued in place.  

Years ago, I went with my mother-in-law to Scott's Antique Market, in Atlanta, Georgie.  It's held monthly, over the first weekend.  And they have everything and anything.  It's two huge buildings (previously warehouses), with "stalls" and vendors selling everything from .....well, just everything. That's the best way to describe it!  And I found one vendor selling large bags of fabrics which you couldn't pick and choose from. You just bought the bag, lock, stock and barrel, without being able to go through the bag.  I took a chance (it wasn't expensive; maybe $10).  And I came away with some of the most beautiful laces, trim, ribbons, etc., that I've ever seen.  And most of it was vintage and antique pieces.  That's where these two pieces (above) came from, as well as the lace table runner remnant (from the previous post)! Talk about hitting the jackpot! I was in a "happy fabric coma"! :-)

So..........there you have it! My second, and sturdier, laptop cover!! I know these aren't the best instructions in the world, so let me know if you have any questions and I'll help all I can.

Hope you've had a lovely weekend and I hope you'll have a lovely week!

May God bless. Jan

Antique Lace Laptop Cover

Hi Everyone!

Okay, so it's taken me a year to get back to blogging!  But I have a good excuse. Actually, I think it's a great excuse.  I've been doing YouTube videos and making journals and journal pages, cards, tags and envelopes.  I've put the link to the right of the screen; just click on the image there, which is some journal cards I've made.

But today, I wanted to do a "blog tutorial" of sorts, rather than a video, of how I made my antique lace laptop cover.  Before I do that though, I want to give full credit to CRISSIE CROSSER, of Crissie's Attic on YouTube.  Crissie did a tutorial that was just great. It was SO EASY to follow that I literally made my own laptop cover in about two hours!  So please check out her two video tutorials, and I'll put a link below for you.

So, let's get started!

This is the finished cover! Again, this only took about two hours to complete, start to finish!  Admittedly, mine looks completely different from Crissie's, but I followed the same pattern and instructions.  My intent was to have a cover that resembled Crissie's "tattered lace" one.  However, when I went searching for lace scraps, I came across this stunning lace table runner remnant.  I've had it for years, so it was a pleasant "surprise" to be able to finally use it!

This is the reverse side.  Isn't it lovely? How could I NOT use it?!  And the really neat thing was that it was exactly the width I needed!! So this goes down in my book as "it was meant to be"!

The first thing you want to do is determine how big your cover needs to be. I just used an old piece of quilted fabric I had, which was thick enough to provide sufficient protection.  Using my laptop as a guide, I wrapped a cloth tape measure around it to determine how much length I needed to go all the way around the piece (both sides), including enough to form a "flap" on the front, as well as how wide I needed.  Then I cut my quilted fabric to those measurements.  

I cut out another piece of medium weight interfacing the same size as the quilted piece.  This helps add structure to the overall piece, as well as providing additional protection.  Stitch these two pieces together around all four sides, leaving your edges raw. 

I also like to "test" my measurements at this point, to make sure I have sufficient fabric. Math and I don't always get along, so I follow the old adage of "Measure twice (or three or four times), then cut once" (hopefully).  In this picture above, you see that I've wrapped the two pieces around the laptop and I have plenty for a fold-over flap closure.

Because my table runner was only a remnant and not long enough, I decided to use two layers of lace.  This would be a great way to use an old damaged lace tablecloth!!  As luck would have it, I still had some of this lace (pictured above) left over.  Believe it or not, this "lace" was originally a shower curtain that I found at Wal-Mart years ago! They only had the one piece, and I've used it in many projects over the years.  To get the size I needed, I just laid my quilted piece of fabric over it, then cut around it, and included about an inch and a half over on all sides.  I think using two panels of lace added to the richness of the piece!

I then folded the lace over the edges of the quilted piece on three sides (top and both sides), and stitched it down.  I wanted to leave the bottom "fringe" visible, so instead of turning it down, I just top stitched the lace onto the edge of the quilted piece to hold it in place.

This is a reverse shot of the picture above.  In Crissie's video, she makes it even easier by leaving all the edges raw, rather than folding lace over it.

This picture shows why I wanted to leave that bottom "fringe" showing.  Isn't it beautiful? Even as it is now, it looks lovely.  But wait.....we're not finished yet!!

I layed the quilted piece down flat, then pinned the lace remnant over the top.  I then stitched all the way around the lace remnant.  I also stitched along some of the major "decorative" lines on the remnant center, to ensure it wouldn't slip out of place. 

Decide the placement of velcro if you want them, and stitch them to the upper and lower corners.  HOWEVER, I have since removed these velcro pieces you see in these pictures because I determined that the flap was long enough to stay closed without the Velcro.  And let's face it, it looked ugly! :-)

I then brought up the bottom of the quilted fabric piece, about two thirds of the way, pinned the sides together and topstitched them, creating an "envelope" for the laptop to sit inside.

This is the picture of the cover without the jewelry piece attached.

This is a picture of the reverse cover.

And this is a picture of the cover with the jewelry finding.

Here's a close-up of the jewelry finding. It's just plastic or perhaps resin, but it looks like antique ivory!  I found it several years ago at Hobby Lobby and it had a round metal disc glued onto the back, for it to be made into a necklace.  I removed the metal backing and, because it has small holes toward the end of the "leaves", I was able to sew it onto the laptop cover rather than glue it.  I didn't want to ruin the fabric with glue if I changed my mind later and wanted to remove it.

NOW......

 HERE'S A WORD OF WARNING!!!

Using old lace is very, very TRICKY!!  Because it's VERY, VERY OLD, it is also VERY, VERY FRAGILE!! And must be treated with GREAT, GREAT CARE!!!  How do I know this, you ask?

Well, here I was, pleased as punch with my "new" antique lace laptop cover.  I had it displayed on my secretary (Furniture, that is; not a person!).  I was SO PROUD!! Which of course was my DOWNFALL!!  Some hours later, when I decided to look something up on the internet, I went over to said lovely antique lace laptop cover and, without thinking, quickly took hold of the flap and yanked!! 

OUCH!! 

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

Said lovely antique lace laptop cover now had a large ripped hole in the bottom right edge!!!

I was heartbroken! I only had a very small piece of the remnant left over, not enough to redo the cover.  So I mulled over it, cried over it, mulled some more, then added brooding to the mix.

It took me about three days to come up with what I HOPED was a solution.  Using the very small piece of table runner I had left, I METICULOUSLY cut out the three remaining leaves and the two remaining "curly boot" shapes that just happened to still be a part of the design, then I glued them down over the torn place on the bottom right, as well as other places I considered to be "pressure points" or "weak areas".  And here is the finished piece!

Compare this picture to the one below and see if you can tell where I added the additional pieces!

Look on the very bottom of the flap hanging down.  No "curly boot" cut-outs on this one!

Now look just a bit higher, on both sides of the lower flap.  No "leaves" on these areas either!

So the moral of this story is.......don't be proud!

Just be happy with the gifts God has given you and use them wisely. 

And don't yank on old lace! It does NOT appreciate it one bit!! 

Hope you enjoyed this "blog tutorial".  I much prefer writing than talking in a recorded video.  However, I also love watching and listening to videos too.  So now I've done both!

Here's the link for my video "flip through" (not a tutorial):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzK9YST_pjA&t=6s

And here's a link to the two videos Crissie Crosser did, which are tutorials (and fabulous ones at that!!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yh7n...

and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqbiT...

Hope you have a lovely day and a FABULOUS weekend!

Take care and may God bless!

Jan