I noticed I was scuffing up the not-my-laptop that I’ve been carrying, so I did a little “30 minute” sewing project (that actually took over an hour because I’m apparently retarded) after I burnt out on other things for the evening.
The intention is a little sleeve that will be snug enough to retain the laptop, and let me slide it between [note]books, etc. in a bag. That means a little long, with thick hems on the open end for retention, and no flaps, fasteners, or protrusions to hang up on other things in the bag.
Basically, I measured the wrapped length and width of the machine (to accommodate for thickness), cut a piece of fabric I had around to the full wrapped long dimension (+1.75″ for hems and clearance) and half the wrapped short dimension (+1″ for seams), hemmed the short ends, folded it in half, ran a seam down the sides, half-assed wrapped the first 2″ of each side seam, and called it adequate.
Upside:
- I can still sew well enough to go from conception to part on something trivial almost instantly.
- My neglected sewing gear is still in working order.
- My vintage sewing machine got her recommended periodic exercise and lube.
- The finished product is functional and looks fine.
Downside:
- I initally cut the circumference of the machine … in both directions. 1.9 sleeves worth of fabric!
- One day, I will sit down in front of a sewing machine and thread it the right direction the first time. That day was not today. Bobbin thread/direction? -Easy. Complicated path through the tension and take-up? -Easy. Passing the right way through the needle? -Derp. I’ll claim it’s the Singer vs. White thing if challenged.
- I had to look it up and still managed to use the adjustable hemmer wrong in two different ways, one hem failed to fell, the other is not really straight.
- I added allowance for generous 1/2″ seams intending to cut after … then sewed 1/4s and had to redo the side seams to make it snug enough.
Using my venerable old machine always makes me feel like it and 3 generations of my family are judging me when I do something inept or half-assed on it, which probably makes my projects better.
I think I’m satisfied. I’d like it to be just a hair snugger, but the fit is pretty good and snugger would have run the risk of finishing then not being able to get the machine in. I think I want to make some kind of companion pouch for the power brick, but I’m not sure how, an attached pocket would ruin the slip-between-things-in-my-bag functionality.
