Sunday, September 04, 2016

Friday with Friends / Five on Friday / Finish it up Friday

Hello Dear Friends,

Firstly, I'm sorry I haven't been commenting much lately, but I made the mistake of changing my password when I wanted to use my email on the laptop, then, that in turn meant, I couldn't get into my emails again on my iPad! (I never considered that this would happen.)

Typing on our oldish laptop (things have improved massively in the past five years) is like a bad dream! I can be typing away, when suddenly the cursor has jumped to somewhere totally unknown! If I am not very careful the laptop will delete whole lines I've just typed ... and, for all I know, it could even publish by itself!! Very scarey!

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Anyway, I digress, this Friday I was "stitching with my friends"! I could have joined in with Cheryl's "Friday Night with Friends" but I didn't know I was going to be stitching until it happened, so I stitched alone, but thinking of my blogging friends as I did so!

.... and as it turns out I could even have joined in with Amy's "Five on Friday"! Who would have known? ... I have exactly Five photos!

.... or maybe even Amanda Jean's "Finish it up Friday", albeit rather tenuously!

.... although I didn't actually sign in to any of them, but I was with you all in spirit!

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What happened was .... Friday afternoon I read on my friend Jacquie's blog (My Journey) that she had dropped her iPad and the glass screen had shattered. (Since then I've heard Jacquie is fortunately covered by her household insurance!)

I took this as a timely warning, as I have often found the iPad has a tendency to slip through my fingers too, plus, shortly after reading what had happened to Jacquie's iPad, DH told me off for leaving my iPad on the floor next to my chair in our kitchen, where he had almost trodden on it when closing the blinds for the evening, and he feared he would have damaged it (even though it was in a Griffin case!) ... N.B. He is not overweight, and often tells me he is of "athletic build"! and then I had a lightbulb moment! and that evening I dug out an iPad cover which I hadn't been using, and set to, measuring up fabric and wadding for handles, to make a safer way of carrying my iPad around the house.


made the handles, not the cover (that came from a shop) 

In case I want to make handles again, here is how I made them:

Materials:

Fabric - 2 pieces (15" x 3")
Wadding - 4 pieces 15" x 1 1/4"

Method:

For each handle,
  1. I folded the fabric in half, lengthwise, RS tog, and stitched using a 1/4" seam.
  2. Turned the tube through, with RS out. Press gently with a warm iron.
  3. Then took 2 pieces of wadding and threaded them through each tube, keeping the wadding as flat as possible, then topstitched each side of the handles with a 1/4" seam.
  4. Attached both ends of handles, of handle facing top of bag, stitched a 1/4" seam across top of handle
  5. Folded handle upwards covering raw edge. Stitched in place in an oblong shape to secure - see photo below.


Finished!

Probably could have been neater, another time I must remember to cut handles on the bias.



Hopefully I have achieved my objective of making a safer way to carry my iPad around the house, and at the same time, somewhere equally safe to leave it at the end of the day, say, on the arm of the chair when not in use!

This should solve the problem of the iPad slipping through my fingers.


It was nice of you to drop by .... so how many of you are off to make your own iPad case, with handles maybe????



Hugs,
Barbara xxx



11 comments:

Queeniepatch said...

It is good to have a 'home' for the phone or tablet where it lives when not in use. A bag is a mobile home and the iPad must be happy to go on camping trips around the house. With the colourful material and soft padding it will be protected from falls or being trodden on.

Christine B said...

Hello Barbara! I haven't been about on the internet much either due to moving house! Starting to get settled now though, so starting to get back into the swing of things! Love your ipad case.... what a great idea! Christine x

Mii Stitch said...

Great sewing piece, perfect for the ipad :)

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Nice case. The handles were a great idea. When not in use, I have a place to put my tablet or my phone where they are safe, but mostly because I get frantic if I can't find something so I must always put them where I know to look for them.
xx, Carol

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Might have to make a cover for mine too. I always put it in a safe place but it would be nice to have a pretty cover.

Amy at love made my home said...

Love your I pad case!! A great way to keep it secure and looks great too. Shame you didn't join in five on Friday, perhaps next week! xx

KimM said...

Well done!! Love it - and love the colors you chose, too.
xxx

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

Great idea Barbara. I haven't got a case for mine,the old one split and I never got around to replacing it. Maybe I should take a leaf out of your book, better safe than sorry.

Sheryl said...

Lovely case Barbara and such a good idea.

France Nadeau ❅ inspiration imagination creation said...

Publish by itself? Very scary, indeed! Who knows what information would appear in these posts... lol
This is a lovely idea you had to add handles. (The only iPad case I have made is a thick case to carry it in my purse. No handles...)
What I find even more lovely is your writing style. I like how witty and humorous it is.
I now follow you on Bloglovin. :-)

Brigitte said...

A great I Pad case, and the idea to add handles is just gorgeous.