A few months ago I finally treated myself to a new tablet, which got me curious about designing a new tablet sleeve 😀 I’ve made them before but I wanted to see if I could do something more tight and compact, but still simple to put together. I really like the result with this one! It’s got some zipper shenanigans, but if you’re okay with that it goes together incredibly fast, probably under 1-2 hours. That’s why I made a whole stack!
They’re padded with quilt batting for extra protection. Mine are lined with polyester lining since that’s what I had on hand, but I bet flannel or fleece would be even better since it would pamper your tablet. The size I have is suited for a 7” tablet, though you could easily enlarge it for a bigger tablet if you know a bit about slashing and spreading.
August 19, 2015 at 9:03 AM
Hi ^^ I’ve got this polar fleece left over. Do you think I can use it instead of the batting ? ^^”
August 19, 2015 at 11:49 AM
Yes, definitely! I’ve had good luck using fleece as padding ^-^
August 20, 2015 at 4:55 AM
Okay, then I’m making it ^^ I’ll probably need to resize the pattern but that’s okay. Thank you ^^ I love this blog btw, and I’ve bought your Sewing Basics book to re-learn properly (I can sew, but badly xD), it’s great too ^^ (only problem is that the metric measurements aren’t always accurate, I always redo the conversions to be sure X_x)
August 20, 2015 at 5:31 AM
That’s great! And thanks so much for buying my book too 😀 I’m glad it’s been able to help you!
December 5, 2016 at 11:08 PM
How hard should it be to pin the zipper around the curve? I tried it and it was hard!
December 5, 2016 at 11:58 PM
It’s definitely not as easy as pinning fabric
Especially if your zipper teeth are really big and the zipper tape is narrow. Though clipping into the zipper tape will make it easier. You could also baste it with sewing glue or regular Elmer’s glue is a popular choice too 🙂
October 3, 2019 at 5:30 PM
Your fabrics are gorgeous! Where do you buy them from please?
October 4, 2019 at 7:24 AM
Thank you so much! These were from some time ago, so I don’t believe they make these prints any more. But I can say that I got them from Fat Quarter Shop. They have a great selection of prints from designers 🙂
October 21, 2019 at 2:06 PM
Hello
I have been making this sleeve, and cannot understand how to make the second half when you need to turn it inside out when the first half is correctly in place, won’t that twist the zipper half?
I’d love a video of how this is done please?
many thanks
Jemima
October 22, 2019 at 7:04 AM
Hello!
So sorry it’s giving you trouble! When the first half is done (after step 3), the zipper should be pointing toward the inside of the sleeve. So when you flip it right side out right before step 4, the zipper should stick out of the edges instead. There shouldn’t be any twisting, but the other edge of the zipper should be exposed so you can sew the other half of the tablet sleeve to it 🙂
I’m not really set up to do a video right now, but if you’re still having issues I’ll see what I can do!
October 24, 2019 at 11:24 AM
Hello!
Thank you so much for your reply, that did help, and makes a bit more of sense. However before I baste or sew it up, I have tried to turn it inside out but it still doesn’t turn out correctly!
I think I am stuck on the extended zipper tapes done in Step 1, they stick out along with the zipper so in Step 4 you are saying that we baste the outer fabric & batting onto the zipper tape all the way round? If so then it just cannot turn inside out without turning over the first half. Do I turn first half out before doing the 2nd half??
I’m a very visual person and like to look at the photos you did but they are quite difficult to work out what you mean in Step 4 and 5. Hence the request for a video! I have my patchwork group this evening so am hoping they can help!
Hope my explanation makes sense! Happy to send photos in an email rather than on here.
Many thanks, Jemima
October 24, 2019 at 12:51 PM
Hello!
If I understand you correctly, then yes you do turn out the first half before sewing the second half 🙂
I am sorry the photos aren’t much help. This pattern is an older one — back when I used to write books and I was still in the habit of taking fewer photos (since it saved printing space).
I made up this illustration explaining steps 2-5 if it helps at all:
October 25, 2019 at 11:18 AM
Thank you SO much for your effort to create the extra instruction given above, I am going to try it now! The girls last night were puzzled too, but we think we got there in the end, so am going to test it out now, and will let you know how I got on.
Many thanks again,
Jemima
November 1, 2019 at 12:12 PM
I finally got to the end, and have a great iPad sleeve!! Many thanks, for your help, and patience.
Jemima