KelseyR89 Report post Posted July 19, 2014 Hello! So I want to make a simple laptop case where I'll just cut a big piece of leather, fold it over then stitch it up, but I am not sure how much leather I need to account for how thick my laptop is and also to make sure there's enough room on the sides so it slides it easily. I know that when you're folding leather over you have to add 2x the thickness of the leather (actually, is it the 2x the TOTAL thickness of the leather or just of one piece?) to account for that, but is there a good rule of thumb for adding 2x or 3x, etc. to the thickness of leather to account for how thick the product is? For example, my laptop is 10" high x 14 3/4" long x 3/4" deep. I use 3-4 oz leather so 2x the total thickness will be 4/16 so I should cut the leather to be 20.25", correct? But then how much space should I give myself on the sides? Should I cut it 15" (14 3/4 + 1/4")? I hope this makes sense... Haha I just wonder if there's a good rule of thumb for adding enough leather to make sure there's enough room for the laptop and I appreciate any suggestions! Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkbutcher Report post Posted July 19, 2014 You would need to account for the thickness of the laptop plus your stitch allowance (the distance from the outer edge of the piece and the inner part of the stitch line) and probably a fudge factor (at least that is what I have had to do) to make sure that it isn't too tight. I'm still trying to figure out how much fudge I need to feed my creations Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KelseyR89 Report post Posted July 19, 2014 You would need to account for the thickness of the laptop plus your stitch allowance (the distance from the outer edge of the piece and the inner part of the stitch line) and probably a fudge factor (at least that is what I have had to do) to make sure that it isn't too tight. I'm still trying to figure out how much fudge I need to feed my creations Dave Haha right, I know I need to account for the stitch line and the thickness of my laptop, but I don't know HOW much, you know? Should I add 2x the thickness of the leather, 2x the distance from the stitch to the edge...? I just wonder if there's an easy way to know how much to account for and add that much extra leather in the measurements. Up to this point I've just guessed and had pretty good success, but I want there to be some kind of formula or something - that'd be so nice Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dkbutcher Report post Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) The Al Stohlman answer is to put your stitches as far in as the leather being sewn is thick. Add up all of the thicknesses of the leather being sewn together and that is your starting point but I don't think it's a hard and fast rule but more of a guideline. If I understand what you are trying to make correctly then I would do the width like this: width of laptop+stitching allowance (roughly the thickness of the leather you are sewing)+ 1/2 of the thickness of the laptop (since you will have one half of the thickness in the top part and one half in the bottom part to make the full thickness)+the bending/fudge factor. I'm not good at the bending/fudge factor yet but I would say to overestimate rather than under since it is better to have a bit too much wiggle room vs. a case that your laptop won't fit into. One of the other reasons I suggest you go a bit big is because (I just discovered today) I seem to get some shrinkage after applying the dye and it has dried. So if you make it a perfect cut out fit and it shrinks even a little bit then you're out of luck. If I was doing it I would probably add about 3/8" on each side for 3/4" total added... maybe even round it up to an even inch. That would put you just a smidge above 16", right? Do a dry run with some paper and see how it goes. I don't know for certain if that would work, hopefully you'll get a more experienced person to chime in in the next few days P.S. This is my third try to make a slipcase for my tablet. The first one was just too narrow. The second one worked fine but I didn't check my math so it was about 1/8" sticking out the end (not a huge deal and it worked great but I had a friend with a tablet that was about 1/8" shorter so I gave it to her)... this one fits perfect (I checked my math four times ). Edited July 20, 2014 by dkbutcher Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
