More than Rubies: Two Nook covers in 24 hours!

While I was away on family vacation a few weeks ago, my 1st edition Nook bit the dust. Thankfully, I found the Nook Simple Touch on clearance at Wal-Mart (yes, I shop at Wal-Mart and I'm proud of it!) and decided to make a cover for it myself. I ended up making two:

Why two? Because the first one ended up too small! Don't make my mistake: when in doubt, cut it bigger! Instructions for both cases follows:

Zippered Pouch Instructions

I laid out my Nook onto a piece of fabric to figure out how much to cut. I ended up cutting it too small on the first one, but 1" extra on each side should be enough. In this case, I should have cut two 7" by 8" pieces. I pinned a zipper to the fabric:

and sewed the zipper on:

This is what it looked like with the zipper attached.

Now for the "batting." I used Heat n Bond fusible fleece, but just about anything should work.

I cut two pieces of fusible fleece to match the two sides of the pouch, and fused them according to the package directions.

For my zipper pouch, I opted to simply applique a design onto the front, and decided not to do any quilting. I actually appliqued my design before fusing the fleece to the second side for ease. To get my design, I simply found a font I was fond of and printed out the letters I needed:

I used my printed font template to trace onto paper-backed fusible web (I used Pellon Wonder Under brand) that I fused to a piece of felt.

I cut out my little applique pieces and fused them to the front of the pouch according to the package directions.

I know: white on black and white doesn't really work that well. All the more reason to break out the embroidery floss and put my blanket stitch to good use:

Once the embroidery work was done, it was time to finish assembling the pouch. I opened the zipper halfway, and with right sides together, stitched along the three remaining sides.

Once the stitching is done, turn the pouch right side out through the zipper opening. Voila!

Magnetic Snap Pouch Instructions

I checked online, and the consensus is that a magnet won't damage the Nook, so I decided to make another pouch that actually fits my Nook. This time, I decided to line the pouch, so I picked two coordinating scraps:

This time, I cut a single piece of fabric that was 2.5 times the height of the nook, or about 15" tall. I used the same 1" allowance on each side again. Cut a piece of lining and a piece of fusible fleece the same size. Put the lining aside, and fuse the fleece to the outside fabric.

I decided to quilt this pouch (think Vera Bradley), and I did so by hand:

I decided to simply highlight the print by outlining the prominent features, such a leaves and flowers. When I was done quilting, I rounded off the top of the piece by using a bowl whose diameter was equal to the width of the fabric.

This is what it looked like when I was done:

Using paper-backed fusible web, add fusible web to the wrong side of your lining. Remove the paper backing once cool, but do not fuse your layers together yet. Cut your lining to roughly match the outer fabric size and shape. Now is the time to attach your snaps:

(Never mind my pins and stitching--I almost forgot to install my magnetic snaps before I assembled it! Once your snaps are in place, pin your two matching pieces right sides together, and stitch a seam 1/4" almost all the way around, leaving an opening in the bottom big enough to pull your pouch right side out.