I've been trying to find a laptop case for ages, after a while I'd had enough, so when I came home for easter, I ventured into the study and found all my old A-level textiles stuff. I thought I may as well save money and make one. And if you want to try one too, here's how....
1) Find the material: I found some nice material that my mum used for blinds in our old house. Kind of reminds me of Erdem's T shirt material for Topshop, which I loved. Another thing you can use is canvas bags, I have quite a few lying around which I got free from various shops (Primark, Mulberry, Topshop) and most have nice patterns on them.
Cut it to an extra 1 inch either side of your laptop to leave room for seams and a zip. Mine is 13 inches and so I cut it to 15 inches wide. You will two of these pieces, one for each side of the case.
2) Get some wadding: I had some lying around the house, but it's really cheap to buy from your local fabric shop, and you shouldn't need much. It helps cushion the laptop to avoid breaking when there bumps and scrapes. I also used it as a quilting affect on the material.
Cut two sides of this out, the same size as the patterned material your using and pin one to each side.
3) Decorate: My material has a pattern on it, I used my sewing machine to do free embroidery around the shapes and define the lines, it also gives the case a bit of definition and a more 'artsy' look. You can do this with any pattern and if you don't have a sewing machine, try it free hand.
4) Measure and Overlock: I drew around my laptop with chalk and then made sure there was enough room around the edge to fit it in, I then sewed around the edges and overlocked using a zig zag stitch. Leave the top side as this will be where the zip is placed later. You will definitely need a sewing machine for this part, so if you don't have one maybe pass it on to a friend or relative who can do this for you quickly.
5) Attach a zip, I used a white 13 inch zip and hand sewed it as tightly as possible to the edge. You will need to pin it in place first, and you may even want to tack it quickly to secure it even more.
6) Put a lining in: Use two sides of plain white cotton, both 13 inches wide, sew around the edges (except the top) and place it into your cover. Then fold the top edge by about a centimetre and sew to the top near the zip on the inside, by hand, as neatly as you can. You can skip this part out if you want, but it does make the inside a bit more attractive.
And there you have it! Your hand made laptop cover in 6 easy steps! It's saved me money, it looks pretty and now I don't have to carry my laptop in a plastic bag to uni! Bonus!
