Saturday, June 21, 2014

Something for the boy.

Hubby and I both got new phones recently.  And you know what that means:  all new accessories.

Hubby likes to wear his phone on a belt holster at work, but his new phone is so large that there aren't many options.  And we found none in leather, his preferred material.  He was looking online and saw a really lovely leather holster, but it was far too small for his Galaxy Note 3.

I'm sure you can see where this is heading.

"I can make that," I said.

"Really?"  Big eyes.

So yesterday I decided to take the afternoon off from my lengthy list of things I need to get done around the house, and just sew.  I had already made up a pattern for the case earlier in the week, so I just needed to cut it out and sew it together.



And here's the back slot for the belt:



And I ordered some button studs just for this project from this Etsy vendor.


I changed the design a little bit from the original.  Also, because the leathers I have in my stash are much softer than what the original is made from, I decided to line the inside of the back with another layer of very fine leather, to keep flakes of suede from getting all over the phone.  I attached that with quilter's basting glue spray; the seams keep it in place.  This finer leather isn't the same grey, and it's pearlized, but it doesn't show :-)


You can see that I edgestitched all the openings to keep the leather from stretching out with wear.  Of course, all of this was sewn with the walking foot and a leather needle.  I'm considering this one a test run - I'd like him to wear it for a bit and see if it's practical.  If he likes using it, I'll get some black leather and make one where everything matches.

The top piece is a bit larger than the back, so it creates space for the phone.  I liked the idea of leaving the corners open rather than trying to miter and sew around them.


Here are my pattern pieces.  I started by tracing around the phone, then adding on 1/4" all the way around - 1/8" for wiggle room, and 1/8" for the seams.  Once I'd drafted the back piece, I used that to make the belt loop/flap piece and the front.



It was really fun to puzzle this project out.  The end result isn't perfect, and we both feel it looks like a man purse.  But with a phone that big, what are you gonna do?

14 comments:

  1. Lucky boy! Good idea to have him wear it for a while to see if it's practical.

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  2. Nice prototype! Lucky boy, your husband.

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  3. Sweet! Now he's going to want more!! :)

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  4. oh nice! i love the button stud you used. maybe going with less of a point on the flap would man it up a little. make more of a trapezoid shape with two of the studs for closure... i don't know, but can't wait to see version two!

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    1. i mean less of a curve... oops.

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    2. I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with the curve either, but I did it that way to make it easier for him to slip his finger under the flap to open it up. The original's flap looked awkward to open. I love the button studs - will definitely be using these again.

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  5. Nice! So sweet you made this for your baby.

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  6. Yay for leather sewing! I tell you since the hubby started with the bike toolkit bag he is unstoppable. He's made a custom wallet and two bespoke attaches. I'm still waiting for my handbag! This is great Gail. Lord help me if the hubby sees it. Another excuse to "buy more leather".

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    1. I can confirm that buying leather is just as fun as sewing with leather ;-)

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  7. Gail you clever thing... this is beautifully designed. I love the exposed corners - a real design detail as oppose to you avoiding sewing bulky corners.

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  8. I think it looks very masculine. You did a great job figuring that pattern out, it looks perfect :)

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