Remember September e reader case/covers

 This month over at Hopeful Threads the project was to make pillowcases and e reader case/covers for deployed troops.  As you know if you are a follower of my blog,Gil is a Marine,so this was a cause near and dear to my heart.  So of course I jumped in and joined the project,in an earlier post I showed 2 of the 6 pillowcases I made.

On to the e reader cases/covers  (all of these are for Kindle readers)

The first one for a Kindle 1 has a pocket to hold the kindle.

Number 2 is also for a Kindle 1 reader,all of the cases/covers that I made are a hands free design,not my own mind you,although I wish it were,because it is a genius idea!

Since I do not own an e reader,I had to use a pamphlet to show how this one will hold the e reader.

A side view of the above reader case,which is for a Kindle Fire.

Front view of the second Kindle Fire case,with the pre-amble printed on the fabric.

The back,or outside of the above case.  I thought that it would be fitting to use fabric with flames for the 2 Kindle Fire cases :)

Next up is the final one I was able to get finished,because I ran out of the elastic headbands that are used on each corner of the front to hold the e reader to the case.  There is also a strip on the back to hold the case closed when not in use.

Angle view of the above reader case,which is for a 3G Kindle reader.  What makes these reader cases stand up for hands free use is,chipboard inserted inside of the fabric!  After looking at a Lot of different designs I happened across this Tutorial pure genius!

(All five cases made so far,this is a view of the back or outside)
Although I did have to alter some of the measurements by an eighth of an inch to get the chipboard to fit properly (I even used my 1/4" foot too).  My plan was to make 2 of each case,so after I buy another package of headbands I will make up the last three.  Then they will all be on the way to My Friend Melissa and after that on to the troops :)

Help a girl out

So I must say,this post is about the contest of sorts going on over at Fresh Squeezed fabrics on etsy

Pop over here to get all the juicy details!  Basically,you pick a bundle from the shop and pin it to one of your boards.  You have three days to get the number of repins that the bundle costs,so a 21 dollar bundle requires 21 repins.  If you reach the amount required,you win the bundle!! How cool is that?

Now for the help...

This is the bundle I would love to win :)  It requires 21 repins,can you help a girl out?  If you are a pinner,would you repin this bundle?

The Link to this dotty pin.  Thanks in advance to everyone who repins for me :)

Aspen Splender

Every year since moving here to CO.  we have made a tradition of taking a day each fall to go and take in all the beautiful colors as weather turns cooler and the Aspen leaves begin to change color.  This year is no exception,today was the Day.  Enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed the Aspens as much as we did!  Have a wonderful week :)

Winner of the Dots on Dots giveaway

So the Dots on Dots Blog Hop is winding down :(  It has been so much fun hopping around to check out all of the dotty projects!  It has also been so very inspirational to see all of the dotty quilt blocks,some that evolved into something totally different when finished.

Personally,I have been blown away with all of the new followers to this lil ole blog!  A warm welcome to each and every one of you :)  I hope that you continue to follow along as time goes by.  Also a Big Thank you to all of my regular followers for sticking around,you guys make me smile :)

In all my hopping around I also found some new blogs to follow inspire me!

So without further ado,we have a winner to announce here :@)

Number 113 is the lucky number!  Whoo Hoo!!!  Congratulations to........ Sandra from Canada who said....

Your bag is so cute and I am sure your daughter will just love it. Thanks for sharing with us.

Here is a photo of your prize,as you can see I was able to find some dots to go with the book an pattern!  Hope you like them :)

Thanks so much to each of the 148 commenters for stopping by to check out my dotty blocks/bag.  See you at the next hop ;)

Have a wonderful weekend....

Remember September Pillowcase Tutorial

Today after work I finally had a chance to spend some time in my cave,as Mr. P. calls it,otherwise known as my sewing room :)  Have you heard about the Remember September Project if not go ahead and check it out,and then head back here for a pillowcase tutorial.

For the first pillowcase I used some fabric purchased from Hancocks a couple years ago.  It is called Defenders of Freedom.  The pillow panels did not run the right way for me to make a pillowcase,so I ended up cutting them apart and piecing them back together.  This is one side/pillow panel

This is the other side.  Some of this fabric was used it Gil's quilt,the rest has just been sitting in my stash waiting for the right project to come along,and here it is!

Pillowcase Tutorial:

For this project you will need the following supply's

• basic sewing supply's,sewing machine,scissors,thread,ruler,etc.
• three different fabrics coordinating or contrasting 

My three fabrics are pictured above,the brown print in the front is for the body of the pillowcase,the green is for the cuff,and the orange is for the insert strip that goes between the body and the cuff.

• fabric for body 27 x 44 inches 
• fabric for the cuff 9 x 44 inches
• fabric for insert strip 4 x 44 inches (you can use a different size width here depending on if you want a wider or narrower insert strip) 

Take your insert strip and fold wrong sides together lengthwise,as pictured above.

Press along the entire 44 inch length.

Lay out the fabric for the body of the pillowcase right side up,take your insert strip and lay it on top of the body fabric raw edges together.

Next take your cuff fabric and lay it right side down on top of the other two fabrics,like in the photo above.  Mine is offset just to show you,make sure that you line them up to sew them together.

Here all my fabrics are lined up ready to sew.  Sew all three layers together with a 1/4 inch seam,the entire 44 inch length.

Here is what it should look like after you have sewn the three pieces together.  Press the seams toward the cuff.

Like in the above photo.

Along the top/raw edge of the cuff fold over 1/2 inch,

pressing as you go all the way along the edge.

Fold your cuff piece wrong sides together,to the inside,covering the raw edges of seam you just sewed.

Pin to keep your fabric in place,removing the pins as you come to them.

Ready to top stitch.

Top stitch a tiny 1/8 inch from the cuff side,as pictured above.  Being careful to catch all three layers of fabric.

This is what will happen if you do not catch all three layers!  I had to re-sew this spot!

Press your cuff to get a nice crisp flat top edge.

Fold your pillowcase wrong sides together and again sew a tiny 1/8 inch seam all along the raw side and end edges.

I know you are thinking What?  Trust me ;)  We are sewing what is known as a French Seam.

Here is my tiny 1/8 inch seam.  You can just see the beige thread on the darker brown.

Turn your pillowcase wrong side out,making sure to push out both corners to make nice points.  Just like if it was right side out.

Now sew the same two sides with a 1/4 inch seam.

Turn your pillowcase right side out again,and push out the corners,and press the edges.

There you have it,a beautiful handmade pillowcase!  Pat yourself on the back for a job well done :)

I am hoping to make at least two more to send and then a few e reader cases too.
Hope you make yourself and Melissa some beautiful pillowcases,enjoy!