It’s been a while again…

To be fair, I haven’t done many creative stuff recently (read in the last 6 months or more…). Loads of ideas as usual, but very little time.

First, I’m still not a published author and my novel is still completely unedited. College hit very hard this year. However, I managed to pass my exams well enough to be able to go on the masters (Yay…?), so another 2 years of very intense maths, stats, and programming. But I do enjoy it… even when I look longigly outside at the sun shining outside the window. Let’s be honest, summer in Ireland this year has been amazing and long, so that I feel a little less troubled in having to sit at my desk studying. Also… it’s hot. I hide in the shades.

Going back to my temporary disappearance, I also went for a 10 days sort-of adventurous holiday on the continent. It was adventurous because I’m definitely too old and cranky to sleep in tents and hostels, but it was fun. And I started a new job right after, something that has to do with what I am studying in a way, so I am very excited. A bit too much sometimes as it seems I went into a “I should reward myself” frenzy and, got among other stuff, a nice new device, which I didn’t need but really desired. So, to offset the guilt I decided to go on a No Buy August, meaning that I won’t buying anything that it is not edible (or a first necessity). In a way, this is also very good for my attempts at being more zero waste and more Marie Kondo.

Nonetheless, I needed a cover for my new fancy toy, so I took out my sewing machine and dug into my box of hoarded fabric and made myself a nice cover. As usual, I didn’t really followed a pattern, but browsed the internet to find inspiration and decided it would have been nice to have also a couple of pockets for phone and pens. So, once I did some sketches and taken measurements, I cut the fabric and then got lost. I wanted to use two type of fabric: a beige one with a pattern of flamingos and pineapples for the outside, and brown on the inside. The problem is that I didn’t know how to put the pieces to make sure it would turn right once it was sewed (been there, done that with the Harry Potter’s Quidditch Robes, but that’s another story…) So went back online and found this amazing tutorial for a reversible cover by TheSorryGirls and figured it all out!

I cut and paired all the pieces. Isn’t it supercute?

Once I rescued my notes from my disastrous hands, I topstitched the little pockets, only the top, and then pinned them in place. I stuck in my phone to make sure it would fit, but that means I don’t have a picture of it. Such a loss! Then I sewed them with the sewing machine. Only the long sides. And it turned out the tops were not aligned… Anyway, let’s move on!

Once I had the pockets safely sewed, I followed the video until I got to this:

I was very relieved to see I didn’t screw up! So, I closed the gap and topstitched the flap, so now only the button was missing.

It was time to dive again in my box(es) of hoarded craft supplies and I found a wooden butterfly button that I thought it would fit with flamingos and pineapples. Now that I think about it it really doesn’t…

For the buttonhole, my sewing machine has a 4 step button hole program, but I’m not very good at it, so to avoid to have to do it 500 times (and to swear along), I did it by hand. Not the prettiest, but it works.

Here’s the finished cover!

I’m pretty happy of the result… aside for a few mishaps, and the fact that the butterfly button wasn’t the best choice, apart for not getting along well with tropical birds, it needs a bit of wiggling to get into the buttonhole. A vertical rather than horizontal cut would have been better, but lesson learned for the next time.

It was a very quick project, probably a couple of hours in total, to do during breaks from studying and it can be easily done with small leftover bits of fabric. I used two pieces of fabric of about 60 cm X 33 each plus a little more for the pockets, and a button.

It’s everything for now, see you in about 6 months 🙂

Just kidding (or not…)