Green Sleeves… No, Blue!

I’ve been obsessing lately over what to do about the case for my Motorola Xoom, which I first talked about here.  I linked up a bunch of “pinspiration” photos, but none of them really felt right. They’re all incredibly adorable, and if it were a gift, I’d carry any of them with pride. However, none of them had all of the little features I wished I could find, so I thought I’d just combine a bunch and come up with an awesome platypus kind of case…

So, I went to work – literally.  I was sitting in a 3.5 hour meeting yesterday, trying to pay as much attention as possible when most of the subject matter was either information I had personally assembled but was being presented by somebody else, OR it was all going right over my head (a common occurrence) . So,  I did what any normal art school dropout would have done – I started doodling (cue segue…).

I have never really been much of a doodler. The only reason I am even remotely skilled at drawing is because I am incredibly detail-oriented and have great spatial awareness. Meaning, I can look at pretty much anything and draw it relatively accurately.  What I can’t generally do is pull something out of my imagination and bring it to life on paper – this being the reason I didn’t quite cut it as an artist.  This time, however, I got lucky.  Since I can’t just go ahead and doodle, I started brainstorming ideas for this tablet sleeve.  I drew about a dozen rectangles and filled them with designs I liked based off of my recollection of the inspiration photos I had previously posted.  Once I finally started seeing a trend, I began to refine the design until I had an incredibly sloppy sketch of exactly how I want my sleeve to be.

When I got home from work, I busted out my wicked-awesome artist’s pencils and went to work. About an hour later, I had this to show for 4.5 hours of planning:

I know it’s not much, but I’m pretty proud of myself for not having drawn ANYTHING in almost 3 years.  I know my handwriting’s a little sloppy, but I get a pass because I’m a southpaw, right?

Anyway, here’s a breakdown of the plan:

• Solid navy exterior – canvas
• Crisp white accent stripe on center – material TBD (potentially leather?)
•  Brass button & loop closure – originally thinking monogrammed, but I found the ones pictured below, and I pretty much fell in love with that anchor…sooooo I bought the whole set from here 🙂
• Exterior business card slot
• Zippered side closures (both sides)
• Interior stylus loop
• Chevron printed interior fabric – cotton

And here are the fabrics I purchased tonight for this project:

Like I stated in the last post, I’m wanting something that’s very chic and professional-looking, but I can’t help that fun, bright prints are my weakness. The chevron was music to my eyes, so I had to have it.  It will make an awesome interior lining!

Now, since I have basically zero sewing skills, can anyone give me pointers for construction of this guy? I’m hoping to get some more sketches of the interior and my proposed construction done soon, but I can use all the help I can get at this point!  Anybody? Please?

I’ll be back with an update soon!

X’s

Christa

Thinking About Technology [DIY]

Today I’m thinking about technology.  My fiance is a huge technology junkie, so you can bet that any time something new comes out, we’ll have it as soon as he’s got the money.  For example: Playstation 3 with PS Move bundle, 55″ 3D Plasma/ Internet TV, Google TV, Direct TV (with movie package), Android phones out the wahzoo… the list goes on.

The newest addition to our wacked-out technology family is a Motorola Xoom.  For those of you who don’t know, the Xoom is an Android tablet (similar to an iPad) sold by cell phone companies such as US Cellular and Verizon (our model is Wi-Fi only, so there is no monthly service charge).

I originally had been begging for an iPad, but they are WAY out of our price range – especially for the amount of storage I’d need on it.  The Android tablets tend to be more affordable, functional, and customizable than iPad (not that I’m knocking Apple… because I’m the Apple lover of the family).  Overall, after 3 days of use, I’m very impressed with this little guy.  I’m planning to get a bluetooth keyboard that I can use with it to make it practically function like a laptop.

You’re probably wondering why I’ve classified this as DIY… right? Don’t deny it.  You know you are.

The thing about these devices is that you have to be EXTRA careful with them, and protect them well with a case or sleeve.  This is where the DIY in me comes out.  There are tons of cases on the market that would be both functional and protective, but are lacking pizazz.  I tend to gravitate towards merchandise that is more eye-catching and unique (probably due to my only-child syndrome) as demonstrated by the work boots I purchased for construction site visits.

So, off to Etsy I went, to gain inspiration.  I decided that I really love the look of wool felt device covers such as these:

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I also REALLY fell in love with these wonderful leather cases with stamped/branded designs:

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So, now that I’m all loaded up with ideas – which way do I go? I love that these options are all pretty gender neutral and workplace appropriate, but I bought this amazing fabric from Spoonflower (which, if you don’t know, is an amazing community of artists creating their own textiles) with plans to make a case for my new Kindle… oh, I forgot to mention that one at the beginning – oops… BUT my Kindle already has a case, and my Xoom does not. Here’s the fabric in question:

Spoonflower – TROIMIETTES

This one is obviously more feminine, meaning that the fiance is less likely to carry it (which could prove to be a positive thing). I’m really just not sure where I want to go as far as aesthetics.  Any suggestions?  I’ll get to construction once I have that figured out for myself.

Has anybody out there ever made their own device cover? ALSO *segway*, has anybody ever worked with Neoprene? I have the remnants of a 13″ Macbook sleeve, which I tore apart to make this gadget carrier for my future father-in-law for Christmas:

*Please ignore the horrible photography… these were taken with my cell phone*

If you’re interested, here is the tutorial I followed for the above project.

Anyway, I lined the Kindle side with half of the neoprene from my Macbook sleeve, and let me tell you… neoprene is not easy to sew. Especially with the beginner’s sewing machine I was using for this project.  I now have a Singer 4423 Heavy Duty sewing machine … isn’t it PRETTY?

Even though I have my gorgeous heavy duty sewing machine, I’m pretty nervous that the neoprene for this project will prove to be equally difficult to work with; so any tips you all have for a novice sewer would be awesome! I’ll let you know when I’ve got this whole Xoom sleeve design figured out…hopefully it won’t take TOO long. Don’t want to leave this guy unprotected for too long!

X’s

Christa