Lined Leather Kindle Case

The reason that I decided to make this case is simple. I like new cases for my Kindle. However, I don't like buying them. AND I don't like buying leather cases. They are really, really expensive. For me, it's much simpler to just make one. From beginning to end, this case took 2 hours to make. I had no pattern and just measured, cut and sewed as I went. That is how I roll. Go ahead, ask my family. It really is.

To begin this beauty, I upcycled a leather jacket that I found at a thrift store. I love doing that. This jacket was priced at $3.98 and I had the flannel leftover from another project. Anyway, I cut the leather and the flannel to a rectangle of 22" x 11 1/2". The piece that is shown above has a seam in the leather from the jacket right down the center of the piece. That was purposeful as to be more aesthetic.

• 1 piece leather 22" x 11 1/2 "
• 1 piece flannel or other soft lining same size as leather
• Sewing machine. Mine is a heavy duty Viking Husqvarna with needles 80/10
• Pinking Shears
• 3 buttons for decoration (optional-I liked the look afterward)
• small scraps of leather and flannel for adornment as desired. See last step.
• Dark thread to match leather. Regular weight will do just fine.
• Sewing scissors. Mine were Fiskars.
• Kindle Fire (9 3/8" H x 6 1/2 W)

This case was best began by sewing the top seam of the leather and the lining together. I put the lining and the leather right side together-without pins. Pinning leather will cause holes from the pins. My sewing machine is a Viking and has a heavy duty motor to handle lots of layers as long as I have the correct needle. I used the heaviest needle (80/10) without making excessive holes in the material. I also put the leather side down and the flannel side up so the foot would feed it through better. (I tried it flannel side up as well, flannel side up worked better for me.) The materials were sewn evenly and then trimmed close to the seam. (1/4 inch)

Ok, this is where leather differs from fabric. I couldn't press with an iron, so I folded over with my hands several times to make the seam stable then I flipped it over to stitch down. The fabric/leather should be folded to the flannel side, by the way. As you sew, make sure the seam stays folded to the flannel side. Edge stitch the flannel with a 1/4" seam. It looks very nice once finished. Then fold the leather 3/8" to the inside in prep for the next stitch.

I have a Kindle Fire. I had the leather sewn at the top and folded at the sides with the seam from the jacket at the fold. I laid the Kindle on the top and marked with chalk the cutting line with the seam line 3/8" away. After cutting, I put in the Kindle to make sure it would fit (the picture on the right).

Let's close this bad boy up! Now my heavy duty Viking earns it's keep. The project had several layers that could be difficult to sew through. So, sew slowly. I used a medium sized stitch sewing around the case. Once finished, I trimmed with a pinking shears to finish the case off.

In the end, things seemed a bit drab. I had extra flannel and a bit of leather so I cut the flannel bigger than the leather as in the pictures. I have bags and bags of buttons in my stash and dug for three that matched. Again, my Viking earned it's keep. I can take the foot off and sew buttons on. Leather can be hard to sew through by hand and I was sewing through 2 layers of leather and 2 layers of flannel. I just centered the buttons and sewed away. Then, to secure the buttons I tied the ends of the threads into knots in the front. (not noticeable).

Here is the finished product...Close up and further away with the Kindle pulled slightly out.

Finished dimensions of the case are 10 1/4" H x 7 3/4 W.