Tablet Pouch

'Packing light' wasn't possible.  
'Packing light enough to not stall the train engine' 
seemed a noble goal to Evie's way of thinking.

~ Kelly Eileen Hake

Confession time - the reason I only finished one of my husband's Christmas Hawaiian shirts over the weekend is that I squeezed in a project for myself.  For Christmas, my husband gave me a seven inch Kindle Fire tablet.  I really like it!  But it doesn't fit in my purse.  So I decided to make myself a quick little pouch to carry it in.  You know, because my motto is "pack light"...  ;)

Recently, I have been very tempted by the pre-cut fabric bundles for quilting projects, and so I picked up a set of five fat quarters with black and white prints.  I rummaged through my scraps and found a grey fabric for the lining.

I cut 2.5 inch strips from the five fabrics and stitched them together with 1/4 inch seam allowances to make a panel.  I attached two of these panels to create the outside of the fabric pouch.  Then I "quilted" the outside of the pouch to some cotton batting, to provide a bit of a softness and substance to the pouch.  

I didn't do any fancy quilting - I just re-stitched along the seams connecting the strips.  

Next I added seven loops - four, two-inch lengths of narrow elastic to attach the pouch to my purse and three, four-inch lengths of narrow elastic to make button loops.  

Here you can see where I attached five of the loops (the three long ones in between two of the short ones) on the left half - which will become the back of the pouch:  

And here are the two loops on the right half - which will become the front of the pouch:  

Next, I stitched the lining and the outer fabric, right sides together, along the top edge:  

I pressed open the seam and laid out the fabric with the right sides up.  

Then I folded the fabric back over itself - with the lining piece doubled onto itself and the outside fabric piece doubled onto itself:  

I stitched around the outside, leaving a hole along the short side of the lining fabric:  

Using that hole, I turned the pouch right-side out:  

I pressed this and stitched the opening closed:  

From here, I opened the mouth of the pouch and pushed the lining inside:  

I carefully pressed this and stitched around the upper edge of the pouch.  You could also attach the lining at the bottom corners with a couple of hand stitches, but I didn't bother.  (We'll see how that goes.)  

Here is my purse:  

I used two small carabiners to attach the fabric pouch to my purse:    

Here is a close-up shot of the two short elastic loops at one end of the pouch (one on the front and one on the back), slid onto the carabiner:  

This is how it looks with my tablet in the pouch, attached to the purse:  

Here is my tablet being slid into the pouch:  

Top view of the purse and the tablet in the pouch:  

The crowning touch - three beautiful buttons!  

The final dimensions are approximately 10 inches by 7 inches - larger than my tablet.  But there is room for me to slide the tablet in and out WHILE the pouch is attached to the purse, and there is room for the power cable too.  So, overall, I'm pretty happy with it.  :)

Now, I have got to finish that second shirt for my husband!  ;)