How to Make a Fabric Case for Photo Discs
comments (5) June 7th, 2012When I think of a season of celebration (weddings, graduations, spring birthdays, etc.), I think of photos—partly because I take a ton of them and partly because I used to work in photo labs so I know I'm not the only one who does! These days, when digital means we can take hundreds more without paying for film or developing, it makes more sense to share our photos with friends and family in digital form rather than print them all out, so I love the idea of packaging seemingly impersonal photo discs in custom-made fabric cases. Give the newlyweds a beautiful handmade case full of thousands of photos everyone took at their wedding, or give your graduating BFF a case full of all the silly shots taken throughout the college years!
You'll need:
- Fabric for the outside and lining (about 7 inches x 13 inches of each)
- Felt for inner padding
- Ribbon, yarn, or cord for ties
- Thread and needle, or sewing machine
- CD sleeves
- Optional extras: fabric paint for stenciling, embroidery floss, etc.
If you are an experienced quilter, I'm sure you could make a better version of this project, and I'd love to see what you do; my methods may not be traditional, but it worked! I used three layers of cheap felt inside the fabric to make it thick and padded—you can use something else besides felt if you have something better.
Start out by cutting one piece of felt about a half inch bigger on all sides than two CD sleeves next to each other, like this:
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My felt piece was cut about 6 inches by 12 inches. |
Use this piece as a template to cut more felt pieces for your padding and your two fabric pieces—cut the two pieces about an inch taller and wider than the felt piece. I cut one more felt piece twice as tall so it folds over to be double thickness, making three felt layers total including the original felt piece.
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You should have three layers of felt and two rectangles of fabric a bit bigger than the felt. |
Sew the two fabric pieces together, with right sides facing, along the long top and bottom but not along the short sides.
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I hand-sewed everything for this case, but you can definitely use a machine. |
After you make this project, show off your work to other members!
Post your project in the gallery
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