My finished homemade cover and My kindle
When my Kindle arrived in the mail, covers for the newest version were not yet available. I was worried about protecting my Kindle especially when I carry it in my work bag, so I started Googling “Kindle covers.”
I found a lot of great information at mobilread.com and in the discussion forums at Amazon.com. I read a lot of reviews for purchased covers, and I found a lot of examples of homemade covers. Reading all of the information gave me a great overview of what features I might want in a cover like being able to fold the cover back and reach all of the buttons and plug-in areas.
I also found a great idea for a temporary cover — a padded envelope.
But one of my favorite finds was a post by C.E. Grundler who shared an idea for a great cover made for less than $7.
Inspired, I started searching my house looking for various materials to make my own homemade cover. Initially, I thought I might use bluejeans. I had found a cute cover that had the back pocket of a pair of jeans on the front of the cover, which would have been great to hold headphones and possibly the charger.
The supplies I gathered varied slightly from the supplies C.E.Grunger mentioned.
- A plastic accordion-style file
- Elastic cord from a name badge (the kind you get from a conference)
- Rubber cement
- sandpaper
- Velcro stips
- Iron-on adhesive
- An old mouse pad
- A colorful reusuable shopping bag
- A hole-punch
- Scrap of material/fabric
- An iron, pencil, scissors
My version allows me to have interchangable outer covers. Here you can see the outer cover on the left and the inside cover on the right. The two attach with Velcro.
When I started, I tried a variety of materials. I quickly decided against blue jeans because I wanted something light. I ended up using a colorful reusable shopping bag because it offered a bit of water-proofing. The shopping bag was originally a Fruit Loops bag with Toucan Sam and some recycle-friendly art. I selected parts of the bag that emphasized recycling and eliminated the references to the Toucan and Fruit Loops.
In the finished version, you can see a tiny bit of Toucan Sam, but it just looks like a colorful design on the very left of the front cover.
For the outer cover, I used an accordion folder that I already owned. The folder already had a great button/loop fastener, and by cutting down the folder to fit my Kindle, I was able to incorporate the button/loop fastener into my cover.
When cutting the accordion folder, I used my Kindle to help me determine the size. The scalloped edge prevented me from using the green flap, but I did use the area with the button and another section from the back of the folder to create the outer cover. This let me use the already existing latch system. I just needed to cut a tiny hole in the material to allow the button to go through.
As Grundler recommended, I sanded both pieces from the plastic accordion-file and used rubber cement to adhere the material, which was the recycled shopping bag.
The messy inside of my outside cover
When I went to connect the two sections, I realized the shopping bag material had plastic in it, which is probably why it is a bit water-proof. I had considered using the accordion flap to connect the front and back cover, but I didn’t feel like the rubber cement was secure enough. I needed a sturdier connection, so I thought of iron-on adhesive, but everything was plastic.
In order to be able to use the iron-on adhesive, instead of the accordion lid to connect the front and back cover, I used some blue canvas. When applying the iron-on adhesive, I had to be careful to keep from melting the plastic shopping bag material. To make sure it wasn’t a problem, I always placed paper towel in between the iron and the material I was ironing. The canvas “hinge” ended up being the perfect binding.
For the inside cover, I also used canvas. My son had a canvas organizer bin that had a wire frame, and the wire frame had become bent. Instead of throwing it all out, I recycled all of the canvas, which I used for this project. The bottom of the bin was sewn. One end of the sewn section was the perfect width for my inside cover, and I cut this sewn section down to create a pocket for my inside cover. This is what I used instead of the two-pocket folder.
The elastic string from the nametag was similar to this, but it was much longer.
Initially, I had intended to put the two-pocket folder inside this canvas pocket, but I forgot to do so as I became engrossed in securing my Kindle. I was really concerned about securing my Kindle inside the cover. Grundler used adhesive strips, and I initially considered using Velcro strips, but I didn’t like the idea of adhering anything to my Kindle. I did more searching, and I found some covers used four-corner fasteners, but some of the fasteners blocked some of the buttons and plug-in areas of the Kindle.
I ended up using an elastic string that I had as part of a name badge. I punched holes in a plastic sheet and threaded the elastic string through the plastic sheet, which provided sturdiness to the fastener.
The elastic from the name badge is threaded through hard plastic that is inside the canvas inside cover. It securely holds my Kindle in place.
At certain points, I had to thread the elastic through my inside cover. I used a hole punch to make the holes in the plastic and through my inside cover. I was so worried about getting the elastic tight enough and in the proper places. Although you can’t see it in this picture, there is a hard plastic piece inside this inside cover, which provides the stability needed to hold the elastic that holds my Kindle in place. The key is placing the elastic in an area that is smaller than the Kindle, so the stretched elastic will secure the Kindle. The inside cover is also where I positioned the elastic that goes around the outer button and holds my cover closed.
Once I had the elastic in the proper place, I sealed the inside cover using an iron and no-sew adhesive strips that bond with a bit of ironing. This is when I forgot to insert the plastic two-pocket folder and padding. I had planned on using a plastic two-pocket folder to provide a bit more sturdiness than a paper folder would allow. Instead of foam, I planned on using an old mouse pad to provide padding. When I threaded the elastic through the plastic and my inside cover, I completely forgot about the two-pocket folder and padding. I ended up liking my mistake. The canvas material was thick enough to provide enough stability, and it kept my cover from being too bulky.
My design lets me fold the front cover behind my Kindle, which gives me complete access to all of the buttons.
I really like the elastic fastener. It securely holds my Kindle in place, and it is also makes it easy to remove my Kindle from the cover. I like that I have the option to use my Kindle without a cover without being distracted by any attached adhesive fasteners.
There is only one flaw with my elastic fastener, and it is correctable. The bottom right corner tends to slip off. In the photo that shows my Kindle fastened in place, it is easy to see how close the bottom right elastic is to the edge of the Kindle. Looking at the photo that shows the placement of the elastic corners, I see the flaw that caused this tendency. For the other three corners, the elastic is about an inch and a half in length, but the elastic in bottom right corner is closer to an inch in length. That corner needed to be just a bit longer to prevent the elastic from slipping off.
To be clear, the corner doesn’t come off on its own. It usually only happens when my hand brushes against it, so it isn’t a security problem. I mention it only to help anyone who wants to use this type of fastener on their own homemade Kindle cover.
While the sealed inside cover looked nice enough to stand alone, it wasn’t thick enough to provide protection. It probably would have been if I had remembered to include the two-pocket folder and mouse pad. In the end, I’m glad I hadn’t remembered because the baby blue canvas lacked the design flair I had hoped to have in my Kindle cover. Still, the completeness of the inside cover made me rethink my plans for the final cover. I had initially thought I would seal the inside cover to the outside cover permanently, but I soon had other plans.
Fastening the inside cover to the outside cover is easy.
The great look of the inside cover and the need for a stronger adhesive made me realize I could make my cover design even more flexible. Instead of sealing the inside cover to the outside cover permanently, I ended up using Velcro. This meant I could keep the inside cover and develop several outside covers that I could switch as desired. Inspired, I placed Velcro on both covers and attached the two together.
There was an unexpected benefit to using Velcro and making the outer cover switchable: The outer cover wasn’t quite big enough to swing it back behind the Kindle, which was one of the options I wanted in a cover. But because the front cover was attached with Velcro, I was able to release the Velcro a tiny bit to allow me to swing the front cover back behind the Kindle and hold it one-handed with the cover still on. This gives me access to the buttons on both sides of the Kindle.
The finished project is light-weight and protects my Kindle well. I don’t miss the padding at all since the combined inside cover and outside cover provide enough padding.
While Grundler’s instructions specifically suggested rubber cement, I ended up not really liking rubber cement as an adhesive for this project. The biggest reason I didn’t like rubber cement was how messy it is. While you can rub the excess rubber cement off, it doesn’t always come off material cleanly. I found that when I tried, I ended up rubbing a bit of the material’s pattern off. Grundler actually ended up with a lot of feedback that suggested other adhesives including some scrapbooking materials. For me, I really ended up liking the combination between the iron-on adhesive and the Velcro.
To date, I haven’t made any other options for the outer cover, but I have plans to do so soon. In the meantime, I am enjoying my colorful cover that promotes recycling, which seemed to me to be the perfect theme for an electronic book cover. Save the trees!
