PlanetJune by June Gilbank

I’ve just finished making the sleeve for my new laptop. I wanted a small slim sleeve to protect the laptop while it’s in another bag, so I intentionally didn’t include a handle or strap.

I made the sleeve out of heavy cotton fabric (actually leftover fabric from curtains that I shortened for a friend). I made a quilted lining out of a soft stretch knit fabric and batting. And yes, the stretch fabric was a mistake - I only picked it because of the colour, and it was so stretchy that it was very difficult to work with. I had to iron fusible interfacing onto the flap lining to make it stable enough to work with. 

I used velcro to close the bag, and sewed a ribbon trim on the flap in a colour to match the lining. I had ideas for more embellishments, but I like it being clean and simple.

The outer sleeve and lining before I stitched them together. See my lovely quilting on the lining?

The finished sleeve, closed…

…and open. The laptop fits perfectly inside with no room to spare.

There’s the quilted lining again.

Ribbon detail from the flap. So pretty!

Ugh, I hate the word shroud! Not sure what else to call this though.

Dave‘s telescope is designed to be collapsible, so it doesn’t have a solid tube; it just has 3 poles connecting the top and bottom of the telescope.

He asked me to make a removable fabric tube to keep light out of the telescope. It was complicated to design as the scope has bits sticking out  - I kept going back to the scope for ‘fittings’ as I started each part.

I made this out of two layers of ripstop nylon, so that no light can get in. The top stays up with elastic loops that pass over the top ring of the scope and fasten around buttons on the shroud. There are 2 slits (reinforced with bias tape) near the top for access to the eyepiece and filter wheel. I left the side seams open at the bottom for the pole supports, and the shroud closes below the supports with velcro. 

The shroud can open out flat, and it attaches around the body of the telescope using two zips; one zips up from the bottom of the telescope, and one zips down from the top, so there is room for the finder scope to move up and down vertically by partially unzipping one of the zips.

Lots of work, but it looks pretty good, and, more importantly, it does what it’s supposed to do – keeps stray light out of the telescope.

I bought a laptop this weekend, so now my mind is in overdrive thinking of accessories I can craft for it. Firstly, I saw that Tom Bihn sell a laptop keyboard cover to protect the screen from picking up dirt from the keyboard when the laptop is closed. Here’s my version:

Maui approves, and my keyboard is protected from excess cat fur!

I made the cover from moleskin fabric so it’s really soft. Very quick and easy to run up on the sewing machine, and now my screen is safe.

One down… next up, a laptop sleeve so I can stick the laptop in a backpack without it getting scratched. Stay tuned…

Walmart and Michaels are both having excellent clearance sales on yarn this week. I picked up this lot for $10!

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it all yet – I’m thinking some kind of crochet amigurumi soft toys for the brown fluffy yarn. I’ve started making a scarf with the purple Bernat Matrix yarn:

I was hoping that I could crochet this scarf in no time, but I find the yarn difficult to work with. My crochet hook keeps slipping in between the top and bottom edges of the yarn, as it’s mostly empty space between the blocks of colour.

I’m getting the hang of it now, but it’s still slow going. The colour is pretty, though, and the texture of the scarf is interesting. I think I’ll wear this when it gets a bit cooler, maybe with a denim jacket.

My cubicle at work needs some personality, so I made these berry pins to brighten things up. They are made from FIMO polymer clay, although I did cheat a bit by using a mould. I embedded long pins in the back before baking, and then varnished them with Varathane.

Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries… yum!