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Make your Own iPod Case Print E-mail
Tuesday, 01 July 2008

Make your Own iPod Case

Why Make a Cover for Your MP3 Player?

Reusing old clothing fabric to make a cover for your mp3 player may seem more like an arts and crafts project than an environmentally friendly action, but it can be quite helpful for the planet. Making your own cover instead purchasing one, saves resources that would otherwise be used to manufacture one in a factory. You'll also save money and lengthen the lifespan of your device!

BENEFITS for the Environment:

Making fabric does a lot of damage to the environment through resource depletion, pollution, and energy use. In addition, man-made fabrics like nylon, polyester, and acrylic are made up of fossil fuels, which pollute the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Recycling a little fabric can go a long way.

Protecting your mp3 player is also good for the environment since making your mp3 player last as long as possible will prevent you from buying unnecessary replacements. This is important because manufacturing these electronic devices requires mining natural resources and using large amounts of energy. In addition, mp3 players contain a variety of ‘heavy' metals such as lead, cadmium, and brominated flame-retardants that are hazardous and, when disposed of improperly, are emitted into the environment.

BENEFITS for Your Wallet:

Many mp3 player covers and sleeves can cost from $10-$30. When you make it yourself, you only need fabric and sewing materials. And because it's completely custom-made for your particular mp3 player, you won't need to pay extra for any custom design from a retailer.

BENEFITS for Your MP3 Player:

You put your unprotected mp3 player in your pocket, purse, backpack, and laptop bags. Each time, they'll be put next to other objects that might scratch, dent, and even break your mp3 player. The iPod nano, for example, has notoriously had a fragile screen which easily breaks. Protecting it with a cover can help keep it unscratched and damage-free.

Cost: Low

Using old fabric eliminates the need for additional spending and you probably already have most of the other materials around your house. Making your own cover is a good way to reuse fabric that would otherwise be rendered useless and thrown away.

Time and effort: Moderate

A pouch or cover is a relatively simple thing to make. If you want to do this by hand, it can take around half an hour. If you have a sewing machine and have had experience using it, it will only take several minutes. It is important to take proper care of your possessions in order to maximize their life span and thus reducing the need for replacements. By decreasing replacements you will also be reducing waste.

Making Your MP3 Cover

Materials:

Scissors
Thread
Needle (or sewing machine)
Used fabric that you like the look and feel of
Paper
Pen
Button, Velcro, Snap Buttons
Ruler
Iron

There are two kinds of covers you can make:

1. A temporary cover is a complete pouch in which you store your mp3 player while keeping it in your pocket, purse, or other bag. If you always find scratches on it from your keys or pens next to it, this is probably the best cover for you.

2. A permanent cover leaves the screen, interface, and any openings still accessible. The advantages of this are that your mp3 player is always protected. If you tend to drop it easily, this is probably the best cover for you.

How to make a pouch for your mp3 player:

1. Use the paper and pencil to trace out the outline of the mp3 player. Place the mp3 player on the corner of the paper, so you only have to draw the other two lines. Cut out the outline.

2. Measure the last unmeasured dimension of the mp3 player, the depth. If you lay the mp3 player flat on the table, this is the height off the table.

3. Lay your used cloth on a clean, flat surface. Put the inside of the fabric (duller and less colored) facing up.

4. To cut the right length of the material, consider the longer side of your paper outline as a unit. Measure two of these units along the cloth and add 2-5 inches on one of them and 1 inch on the other. Look at the depth of your mp3 player. The shorter the depth, the longer one side should be compared to the other side, in order to be as tight as possible. These will become the lengths of two pieces of fabric. Mark the lines with a ruler as parallel as possible to the other edge of the fabric.

5. To cut the width of the material, just trace the width of the outline on the cloth once and add ¾ of an inch to 1 inch. Mark this line with a ruler.

6. Now you should have an outline for the pouch. Place your mp3 player in the center of the outline. There should be about 3/8th of an inch on each side for the seam. If there is too much or too little, adjust the lines on the fabric until they seem like they'd work.

7. Cut the fabric out along the new lines. Place the shorter piece onto the longer piece, with the inside of the fabric facing outward (so the seams don't show on the outside).

8. Choose a thread that matches closely with the fabric. Sew the vertical edges together, leaving only the opening and the flap. Backstitch (sew over again in reverse direction) areas near the opening, to make it sturdier to flip inside out.

9. Flip the fabric inside out. To make it look more seamless, iron the seams thoroughly.

10. Decide how you want to fasten your pouch. If you decide to make it with velcro, you can either iron it on (with iron-on versions) or sew it on. If you decide to make it with buttons or snap buttons, you can sew these on as well.

11. Put your mp3 player inside and close the flap. Enjoy!

How to make a permanent cover for your mp3 player:

1. Lay the mp3 player flat face down on the piece of paper. Using a pencil, outline the edges onto the paper. Turn the mp3 player onto one side, and outline it adjacent to the first. Lay the mp3 player flat again and turn it onto another side to outline it again. Repeat this process until there are all four rectangles around the center outline. Then, after the last turn, before turning it back flat, turn it again in the same direction onto its back. There should now be 6 rectangles.

2. To make a flap, lengthen either the top rectangle or the bottom (depending on where the ports are). Depending on the size of the mp3 player, lengthen this side by at 2-5 inches.

3. Trace the screen, buttons, wheel, or other ports on your mp3 player and trace them back onto the outline template. If your fabric is not easily stretchable, trace completely around the entire outline at a distance of a quarter of an inch around the edge.

4. Lay down the fabric on a clean, flat surface with the inside fabric (duller and less colored) facing up. Trace the entire outline onto the fabric, including any holes. Cut out the outline of the fabric. Then, cut out the holes. This can be achieved by folding over the cloth and cutting from the middle to the edge.

5. Choose a thread that matches closely with the fabric. Sew the edges together as they fit, leaving only the opening and the flap. Also stitch around the openings where the screen, buttons, wheel, and ports are, so they don't fray. Backstitch (sew again) areas near the opening, to make it sturdier.

6. Flip the fabric inside out. To make it look nice and seamless, iron the seams thoroughly.

7. Decide how you want to fasten your pouch. If you decide to make it with velcro, you can either iron it on (with iron-on versions) or sew it on. If you decide to make it with buttons or snap buttons, you can sew these on as well.

8. Put the mp3 player inside and close the flap. Enjoy!

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