This case is perfect to hold pens, pencils, or a laptop charger! It uses a reinforced fabric and has side pockets.

A while back, I made a holder for my laptop charger, and it worked out great! Well, it did for about a year or so. The problem was the bag was too small for the charger. This caused the bag to be strained when trying to fit something way to big inside.

While it has not torn yet, I don’t want to wait until it does, so I decided to make a new laptop charger case! I wanted to try out a new design as well, thinking specifically about fitting this huge charger.

I liked the round edges rectangular look, and I wanted the project to have pockets. One other thing I wanted to try was highlighting the seams using edging. I feel like this gives a project a very defined look which I really enjoy.

Check out the Craft section of MCG for more fun patterns in strings and things or more unlimited ideas.

Supplies

For this project, I needed to cut out a decent amount of fabric. I used three types of fabric a patterned exterior fabric, a plain interior fabric, and a reinforcing fabric. For the cuts I did the following:

Exterior Fabric

(1) Sides – 8 inches by 5 inches
(1) Pocket (bottom) – 8 inches by 3 inches
(1) Pocket (top) – 8 inches by 2 inches
(1) Bottom Strip – 14 inches by 2 inches
(2) Top Strips – 12 inches by 1 inch

Interior Fabric

(3) Sides – 8 inches by 5 inches
(1) Pocket (bottom) – 8 inches by 3 inches
(1) Pocket (top) – 8 inches by 2 inches
(1) Bottom Strip – 14 inches by 2 inches
(2) Top Strips – 12 inches by 1 inch
(2) Seam Edging Strips – 26 inches by ¾ inches (approx.)

Reinforced Fabric

(2) Sides – 8 inches by 5 inches
(1) Pocket (bottom) – 8 inches by 3 inches
(1) Pocket (top) – 8 inches by 2 inches
(1) Bottom Strip – 14 inches by 2 inches
(2) Top Strips – 12 inches by 1 inch

Strap Material

Exterior Loop – 2 ½ inches long

I picked a thread that would match the interior fabric as the only seam that would be visible is the one on the seam edging. The zippers also matched the interior fabric to help give the dynamic pop. The zippers needed were 12-inches and 8-inches long.

Process

Reinforcing the Fabric

The first step of this project is reinforcing the fabric. The fabric reinforcement that I use adheres with heat, so I like to do this first. I also like to iron out all the fabric I plan on using after it’s cut. Working with freshly pressed fabric is such a wonderful feeling.

For this project, I reinforced one exterior side piece, one interior side piece, the exterior bottom strip, the exterior top strips, and both exterior pieces that are being used for the pocket. I like having all the exterior pieces reinforced.

However, since there is a pocket on one side of the laptop charger case, the main pocket would only have reinforcement on one side. To avoid this, I reinforced one of the interior side pieces as well to make sure the main pocket was reinforced on all sides.

The Central Strip

The next item to take for the laptop charger case is the central strip. The top strips (two exterior with reinforcement and two interior) will flank the two sides of the zipper. Working one side at a time, I sandwich half the zipper inside a pair of fabric strips (one interior and one exterior).

The exterior side should go against the outside of the zipper (with the zipper pull) while the interior should go against the inside of the zipper. The “right” sides of the fabric should be facing each other, and the zipper should not be visible while sewing.

This will ensure that the sewing seam isn’t visible in the final product. This step should be repeated on the other side of the zipper so that both sides of the zipper are flanked by fabric.

Now it’s time to attach the bottom strip of fabric. The short ends of the fabric should pair with the ends of the zipper. The fabrics don’t need to align perfectly as long as a consistent width can be carried throughout the length of the fabric.

Again, I sandwiched the zipper inside the interior and exterior pieces of fabric as to hide the seams. This was done on both ends of the zipper. After everything was connected, I had a long circular strip that should cover the edges of each side.

Along one seam, I did include a loop made from a strap material. I typically see these on bags to help zip and unzip the bag by having something to put opposing force on. After a lot of back and forth, I ended up using the strap material as it has the best strength and came with a finished edge.

The Pocket

Putting the central strip aside, I wanted to focus on laying out the pocket. The only real sewing done in this section is attaching the zipper to the pocket pieces (top and bottom). This step is very similar to the zipper on the central strip of fabric.

I wasn’t really feeling creating a zipper opening the in fabric. A zipper opening is where there is a hole for the zipper, but the fabric is continuous around the sides. It’s not the easiest thing to do and not my strong suit. So, to forego this method, I decide to have the zipper span the entire length of the side.

Attaching the Sides

Attaching the sides for the laptop charger case felt weird because it went against my normal modius operandi for sewing. I have visible seams on the side. Not the outside. But let’s go against the grain and sew with the seams on the outside.

I fixed an interior side and an exterior side against on edge of the strip. I wanted to pin the side in place before I sewed because this felt like a major commitment. When pinning the sides, I wanted to make sure not seams were visible on the side of the pouch. I was determined to make this project perfect! (I know… chasing perfection is an impossible pursuit)

By making the seams hidden on the inside, that meant I had a clump of fabric on the outside. This is fine. I will address these edges in the next section.

The pocket side of the laptop charger case was a little more complicated but not much. The main different is that an extra layer was sewn into this side. I placed a layer of interior fabric, then the reinforced interior fabric, then the pocket exterior that was made in the last section.

This allows the pocket to have an interior finish while still reinforcing the main pocket with the reinforcement fabric. Honestly, this side is double reinforced, but I think it will work out ok. Again, the fabric was pinned and sewn in a way to hide the seams on the inside and have a clump of fabric around the edge.

Trimming and Edging

The last step of the project is to hide the clumpy edges that were just made. Before using the interior fabric to create and edge on the laptop charger case, I needed to trim aware the clumpy fabric to have as little as possible.

The edging is made by taking a strip of interior fabric, folding it so the edged of the strip are hidden inside, and then folding it in have over the seam that you want to hide. It’s a process that requires a delicate touch. Which I am not known for.

Yea… I will confess that I struggled with this step. It didn’t seem all that hard when I was planning out the project but plans and reality can drastically differ. But in the end, I got it done!

Reflections

This project turned out to be more difficult that I had anticipated when I was planning everything out. Attaching the sides to the project turned out to be especially hard. The corners did not always want to work with me, but I feel it turned out pretty well in the end.

It is not perfect by any means, but it will work for what I need it for! I do think the design theory was sound (since this is my first time doing an exterior stitch work) but I need some more practice with it to make it perfect.

I did have a few issues with the project that came up and that was a bit of a beast to fix (check out the lessons sections on fixing tears). All in all, I am happy with the way it turned out and it is perfect for being a laptop charger case!

Lessons

Fixing Tears

While I was making this project, I ran into a little accident. One of the sewn seams on the zippers tore. This happened near the end of the project and well after I could fix from the inside. Which meant that I would have to fix it from the outside. Ugh.

After having a minor panic attack, I decided that using embroidery thread would be the best way to fix the problem. The zipper was going to be a high used area and a weaker fix would end up tearing again. And I didn’t want this to become a problem that would need to be addressed multiple times.

So, I grabbed some embroidery thread and got to work. To make the look cohesive, I did the stitch along the entirety of the zipper (both sides). Now it looks like a creative choice instead of a mistake!

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