click photos to enlarge! 

The sober charcoal gray color allows this design to be worn at important  meetings, but the ruffles create a festive enough mood to allow it to be worn afterwards for cocktails and dinner.  The lightweight unlined ensemble is not itchy, and floats on the body.  This wool fabric, from Jomar, has the advantage of not wrinkling when worn.  The lightweight wool will be comfortable in a variety of temperatures. 

 French seams and lightweight, narrow machined hems are the hallmarks of this design, which was meant to float and move with the body.  The ruffles on the jacket follow the circumference of the jacket - at hem, neckline, and front edges.  The ruffle was cut circularly – this cut provides lots of visual interest as the ruffles can be worn up or down at the neck, and then cascade down the front of the body and around the hem. 

The blue sleeveless version, below,  is a textured synthetic knit, obtained from Jomar during their recent Warehouse sale.  This pattern was sewn just as presented in the magazine.   

The black version is a weighty rayon ribbed knit, also obtained from Jomar.  I will be making a skirt to go with the black version.  The black version has sleeves, which I drafted and added. 

Note the bra stay  illustrated below.   This is necessary on the black version. This fabric is very stretchy.  Without the stays, which are placed in both shoulders, the top may shift in wearing, thus showing the bra strap.  The bra stay prevents this.  The stay is constructed of grosgrain ribbon, sewn on one side, and a snap is added to the other side.  When getting dressed, simply snap the ribbon around the bra strap.  (The real trick, however, is to remember the bra is attached when getting undressed later!) 

For the T shirt, I used the solid green fabric for the back piece, and the print fabric for the rest of the shirt. 

This is a summer beach/lounging around the house outfit! 

This jacket and skirt was made of wool boucle.  This fabric is still available at http://www.michaelsfabrics.com

I had an 'adventure' with the bound buttonholes - I installed them 1/4 inch off center, so I ended up sewing the button next to the buttonhole, and then installing a snap underneath. 

The finished case. 

Why a Custom Laptop Case? 

After looking at what was available in the way of cases for laptop computers, I decided to custom-create one for my new Dell, which is much thinner than the last one I had, and for which I did not want to use the same old black ‘manly looking’ case.  Lately, there are more nicer looking, more feminine cases on the market, but none quite struck me.  Therefore I decided to make my own.    

My Criteria

I wanted a protective envelope – so I could place the computer inside my briefcase, and thus not be burdened with carrying a separate laptop case.  This computer is smaller, so I would have no problem putting it in any of my existing business briefcases.  The case needed to be easy to open and close at airport security.  I wanted it attractive, and somewhat durable.  It needed to be easy to get the computer in and out.  I decided on a ‘box’ design.     I decided to use silk dupioni for my outer fabric, and line it with linen.  I decided to machine quilt my fabric, using regular poly quilt batting.   This is lightweight, but thick enough to protect the machine during transit.   

Pieces D and E, joined. 

My Design

I wanted an overlapped, box style envelope design, with an outside pocket for peripherals.  I measured my laptop, and created my pattern.  These were my pieces: 

Piece A:  Rectangle the exact size of the front of the machine, plus ¼ inch ‘wearing’ ease (so the laptop would be easy to get in and out of the case) on each side and bottom, plus ¼ inch seam allowance.  Plus a hem allowance at the top.  I used 1 inch. 

Piece B:  Piece A plus an additional 2/3  length of Piece A added to the top.  Plus a hem allowance for the overlap part.   This additional 2/3  length was what would overlap over the top of the computer, and come a bit down the front, creating an overlap.    

Piece C:  A long, skinny strip, which measured the depth of the machine on the short side.  The long side measured  the circumference of the machine (not including the top edge).  I added ‘wearing’ ease and seam allowances to this piece too.  This would be sewn between piece A and B, creating a ‘box’ design (rather than an envelope, which would have resulted had I simply sewn A to B. 

Piece D:  The pocket rectangle, to be applied to Piece A, after being sewn to piece E.  (But before A was sewn to B.) 

Piece E:  A skinny strip onto which Piece D was sewn.  This was as long as Piece D was wide, plus 2 times Piece D’s height.   (This was the same width of Piece C.)

Piece A, hemmed, with binding. 

Paper pattern is above. 

My Method

I first made my quilted fabric.  The top layer of the quilt was silk dupioni.  The bottom layer was linen.  I used rayon variegated color thread for the quilting.  To make the fabric, I cut the pieces, listed above, but with about  two inches of ‘extra’ around the edges, as when fabric is quilted, it shrinks, as the fabric is ‘taken up’ by the stitching.  I had fun creating a random wave quilted design on Pieces A, B, and D.   On Pieces C and E, I created parallel strips of sewing. (Parallel to the long edge.)   I basted my layers together by hand before   machine quilting, which is essential to prevent slippage!  My machine quilting was done with a nice long stitch.  I used my walking foot, and was careful to hold the fabric assembly taut while sewing so as to avoid unsightly bunching. 

Then I cut out my pieces.  Before cutting, I traced the pattern around where I wanted to cut, using chalk.  I sewed right along that chalk line.  Then I cut the pieces out right outside that line.  This gave me a nice, stable edge on every piece when it came time to sew them together. 

 To create the pocket in which I would keep my peripherals, I applied rayon seam binding to the tops of those pieces (excellent seam binding, available from Christine Jonson www.cjpatterns.com. ) Then applied Piece E onto Piece D, sewing around all three sides (left, right, and bottom.)    Then I applied that assembly onto the front of Piece A.  I pressed seams open, then together, and applied a zigzag stitch.  (This pressing and finishing applies throughout the project.)   

I then sewed the rest of the package together. Piece A onto Piece C, then that onto Piece B.  I used more rayon seam binding to finish the hem on the overlap (Top of Piece B) and the hem on the top of the case (skinny strips).  

Piece B.   Before cutting and finishing.

I finished it off by sewing on front ties made of the same rayon seam binding.  This gives it, to my eye, a unique, somewhat ‘japanese’ look. 

My laptop and its case will probably stand out from all the rest on the conveyor belts at the airport security checkpoints.  And that’s a good thing!