Making a Kindle cover

There is something to be said for long-term craft projects that you pour lots of energy and love into. There is also something to be said for a craft project that transitions from a little idea in your head to a final product in an hour and change. Today's project falls into the latter category.

A few years ago, Josh surprised me with a Kindle. Though I maintain my love for hard copies of books, the Kindle has become part of my reading routine, especially thanks to our local library's Kindle book lending program. I wondered recently if I should consider getting some sort of case for it - and then forgot about it.

Then I saw a tweet containing a picture of a simple-enough Kindle book cover, and I thought, I want to make one of those.

I set off on a Google search and came across the "Kindle cover from a hardcover book" tutorial that became my inspiration and guide. I went off in a different direction a couple of times, but the final result is pretty similar and so that post deserves much credit.

Basically, you take a hardcover book and remove the pages and then cover it with fabric that you secure with hot glue. My route to the finished product was different because I tried to use supplies I already had on hand, and that didn't include the quilted fabric suggested in the instructions, so I started adding some makeshift padding with some quilting batting scraps and the hot glue gun.

Because of the batting, I wanted to wrap up the whole book with the rest of the cotton fabric. This is where the project started to feel a lot like using grocery bags to cover textbooks back in middle school and high school. I'm not even sure how honestly I can make that comparison, because my dad was so good at making perfect book covers that the number of books I actually covered myself is low. I may have texted my dad to ask for his book covering tips during this project.

I didn't take any more "in progress" pictures because I was working quickly with the glue gun and largely off the cuff. I tried to wrap the cover pretty tightly but with enough room to close nicely. I ended up wrapping the book like a present, with the fabric edges ending in the spine. Then I decided to put a little band of purple fabric in the spine to cover the edges and "hemmed" that with an iron. Along the way, I had attached the fabric to all four edges of each side with hot glue. No sewing in this project.

Then I made a little pocket out of another scrap of fabric, ironed a little hem on each edge to make a nice crease, and hot glued three of the edges to the left side of the cover.

That last picture spoiled the surprise of the last step: adding the elastic. That's the only part I had to go out and buy. I tried some elastic I had from another project and it was way too thick. It did not do the job. This dainty elastic was just right.

And here it is closed:

To be sure, it's definitely not perfect, but I like that something a little sturdier is protecting my little e-reader. I am happy with the results of this quick project.