25 Days of Christmas- Day 4 - Laptop Cozy

Laptop Cozy

I have someone in my family who is absolutely obsessed with computers. They own a laptop and at least one desktop and are under the age of 24. (This just blows my mind because our computer is about 5 years old now and I'm just happy if it can get through thirty minutes without freezing.)

I already have a larger present for this person, but I thought a great *little gift* to add would be a laptop cozy.

I have seen several tutorials around the Internet for laptop cozies and sleeves, but like this one because it is padded and secure. The tutorial comes from Sew Mama, Sew and was, I believe, included in their Handmade Holidays series.





To make my cozy I used quilter's batting, National Non-woven's felt, and muslin. At first I appliqued a felt yeti on, but he was later removed and replaced with this:



I think this will appeal much more to the recipient's twisted sense of humor. Did you notice that he's a bleu cheese and maybe a blue cheese too... ha! (Bad homophone humor.)

Here's a hint when making this tutorial, if you are using felt, use felt for only the interior or exterior... not both. There are two reasons for this, the hook side of the Velcro will eventually make the felt on the opposite side turn furry and the fact that felt will stretch out over time. If you use one non-felt fabric you reduce the chances of having the cozy stretch out and be unusable.

25 Days of Christmas- Day 1 - Sewing Kit

The first tutorial is here! And away we go...

Sewing Kit



This sewing kit started out as a present for someone in my family and it was so cute, I think I'm going to have to make one for myself. This is a pattern that I created from different things that I had seen and liked. I just love how it ends up looking sort of like a little mini-suitcase.

Here's what you will need:

- Three colors of felt
- Three inches of elastic cord
- One button
- Eighteen inches of ribbon
- Optional: Fusible webbing



1. Decide which felt you will be using for your main wallet color, your large pocket, and your small pocket. Using your main color felt, cut two 9" x 6" rectangles. Cut your large pocket color to 9" x 2.5". Cut your small pocket color to 9" x 1.5" and cut another small strip measuring 4.5" x 1", this little strip will be for your needles. Cut your ribbon into two 9" pieces.



2. Take your large pocket, small pocket, and the needle strip. Using your machine or hand sewing, stitch 1/4" in down one long side of both the large and small pocket to reinforce the felt. Do this on both sides of the needle strip.



3. Pin the ribbon 1" in on both long sides of one of the main color rectangles. Hand stitch the ribbon into place. After this has been completed attach the button in the center of one side about one inch from the edge. Fold the elastic cord in half and pin it in the center of the end opposite the button with the loop side out. Make sure to place the elastic cord on the underside of the felt.



4. Pin the large pocket to the remaining main color rectangle. Using your machine or hand-stitching, create pockets by making a vertical seam. If you use your machine, make sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of each seam.

5. This step is optional, but is a good idea if you are using acrylic felt or Eco felt. Cut two pieces of fusible webbing, each should be 8.5" x 5.5". Iron these to the backside of each of the main color rectangles.



6. Pin the small pocket to the bottom of the large pocket, which should be already attached to one of the main color rectangles. Pin the needle strip 0.5" down from the top of the same rectangle touching the left 6" side. Pin the main color rectangle to the rectangle you attached the ribbons, button, and elastic cord to earlier. These should be pinned fusible webbing to fusible webbing or wrong-side to wrong-side. Sew a 1/4" seam around the outside border of the felt. Then stuff with your favorite sewing supplies!

Look at these adorable embroidery floss bobbins!



They were designed by Mollie Johansen and are provided as a free printable on her blog. Also, check out her etsy shop for some adorable-y cute embroidery patterns. I love the fruitcake!