Some Sleeves

You know what the problem is with stash busting? It creates more scraps! I'm trying to reduce both, but every time I make a garment, I am left with more scraps. And I know there are things like small purses or pincushions or headbands I could make, but one can only have so much of those. Hmmm...

Anyway, I've made a laptop sleeve for a friend. When I made my first sleeve, she asked me if I could make her one too. I said yes, she bought fabric. That was about a year ago. She bought a new laptop in the meantime. Moral of the story: never ask me to make you something :) At least there's one advantage: I learned to sew much better in the meantime. I finally made her sleeve last week. I needed a new one too, so I made another one with the leftover fabric to prevent my scrap pile getting higher.

The pink one is my friends sleeve. The outer fabric is a soft wool, the lining is a super soft and flowy something. This girl knows quality when she sees it! I handsewed the lining close to the zipper so it wouldn't get stuck. I also made an extra piece of fabric to protect her laptop from the metal zipper. And I used an extra piece of white cotton in between because the pink fabric is see through. It turned out well, but it was hard to combine a coarse zipper with such fine fabric. It took me about three hours to get it right! I made mine second, and was done in about half an hour. I used a smaller zipper this time, and a piece of quilting cotton from the scrap pile. There was no need for handsewing or an extra protection strip.

Doesn't the pink one remind you of an oyster or mussel? I used this tutorial for both sleeves, but omitted the iron-on fleece. If you choose the right materials, it's a fun half an hour project!

(15:60 #6)