Pollywood IPod Case

THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS PROJECT CAME from watching Bollywood films and from the materials available in Asian fabric stores—a great source of fabrics, sequins, and embellishments. This pouch has a felt inner lining and so will help to protect your iPod and its earphones, while the hanging cord will keep the iPod handy around your neck.

MATERIALS

 •11 x 5 in. (28 x 13 cm) piece of felt 

 •Small scraps of silk fabrics

 • Machine embroidery threads in colors to complement the fabrics, including thicker threads if you want

• Polyester sewing thread in a toning color

• Small pieces of braid, ribbon, and ric-rac

 • Ready-made sequined and embroidered motifs

• Selection of embellishments, such as sequins, small and large beads, sew-on jewels, Shisha mirrors, and buttons

• Diamante and stick-on jewels

• Strong fabric glue

• 11 x 5 in. (28 x 13 cm) of silk for lining

 • 1 in. (2.5 cm) of hook-and-loop fastening

 • Decorative button is

39 in. (1 m) of cord

EQUIPMENT 

• Cardstock, pencil. and ruler

• Paper scissors

• Pins

• Sewing machine

 • Fabric scissors

 • Hand-sewing needle

 • Embroidery scissors

 • Thimble

  

1. Measure your iPod or MP3 player, including the earphones. Draw a rectangle on the cardstock large enough to accommodate everything with ease and cut it out with the paper scissors. Bear in mind that the fabric can shrink a little when it is embroidered: the example shown measured 4 x 5 in. (10 cm x 13 cm). Pin the cardstock pattern to the felt and cut out two pieces using the fabric scissors. Also cut a 1 x 24 in. (2.5 x 6 cm) piece of felt for the fastening strip.

2. Cut small rectangles of silk fabrics and pin them to the felt to cover it completely. Cover the fastening strip with one piece of silk.

3. Thread the sewing machine with embroidery thread. Using zigzag stitch, sew the pieces of silk to the felt, sewing around the edges of each piece.

4. Set the machine to free machine embroidery. Embroider swirling, random patterns over the fabrics, including the fastening strip. If you would like to use thicker threads, wind these onto the bobbin and work on the back .

5. Pin lengths of braid to the fabrics. Set the sewing machine to straight stitch and sew on the braid with polyester thread, sewing close to the edges or, for ric-rac, down the center.

6. Using the hand-sewing needle and polyester sewing thread, embellish the fabrics by sewing on motifs, buttons, sequins, Shisha mirrors, and sew-on jewels: remember to decorate the fastening strip. leaving space for the button. Also leave space on the front section at the top center for the hook-and-loop fastening to be sewn on. Keep all of the embellishments at least 3/8 in. (1 cm) away from the edges so that the pieces can be machine sewn together.  

7. Fill the remaining spaces with diamante and stick-on jewels using strong glue. Again, leave spaces for the hook-and-loop fastening and machine sewing.

8. Cut out two pieces of lining fabric the same size as the embroidered fabrics. Wrong-sides facing, pin each lining piece to an embroidered piece. Set the sewing machine to satin stitch and, using embroidery thread, sew around the edges of each piece. Line the fastening strip in the same way. Linings facing, pin the two pieces together. Set the sewing machine to zig-zag stitch and, using the same threads used for the satin stitching. sew the pieces together to make a pouch.

9. Pin and hand-sew one end of the fastening strip to the top center of the pouch on the side that is to be the back. Embellish the other end of the fastening strip with a decorative button. Hand-sew small pieces of hook-and-loop fastening onto the end of the strip (on the lining side), and the front of the pouch to fasten it.

10. If necessary, cut the cord to a suitable length. Tie knots at either end and hand-sew them to the inside edges of the pouch.