Phone Case Design Process

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Happy as a lark with my new iphone.....but being the fabric/sewing junkie I am, the first thing I did before even learning how to use the silly thing was to design & make a little case for it! 
I'm sure there are gobs of tutorials and patterns out there for various cases, but I am absolutely not a pattern person. I seem to just muck them up and I really enjoy creating from total scratch. 
Anyhow, I love how the case turned out & I am almost more excited to open & close it than to use the phone itself!

I thought I'd share a bit of my process....I wish I would've taken more photos during the construction, but here's a little glimpse: 
I imagined what I hoped it would look like and made this initial rough sketch. 
 
 Drew upon similar techniques from this fold over clutch and my portfolio organizers
Chose fabric....knew I had to use the coral weave from Moda, it's been sitting on the shelf tempting me since I purchased it! Added a bit of linen and then settled on pinky orangy dots for the inside.

Opted for an elastic close for easy but secure keeping (I'm already on pins & needles I'll somehow damage this phone!) 
Added a little pocket in the back because I thought I just might need it for something. plus, I just love adding extra details! 

After a bit of readjusting and trimming and reinforcing the stitches, voila! a padded little phone case

{would love to hear about your design process...what steps do you take to make something new?}