Custom Tablet/Laptop Sleeve
I recently purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (Laptop/tablet) and I needed something to protect it. I didn’t want to spend the time to find the perfect cover to order and then wait for it to arrive. As usual, I would rather spend that same time creating my own solution. I decided to make a sleeve, to maintain its portability and slim profile. I decided to look for some mailing envelopes and see if I could find one that I could cut up and use. Fortunately I was able to find one that was almost the perfect size that I needed! All I had to do was make it look nice and protect better.
First I cut a large opening to make it easy to take the laptop in and out. Since the flap had to be bigger than the opening itself, I had to find another material to make it out of. I used the outer layer of an old notebook which happened to be similar in thickness to the envelope material. After cutting it to the right size and taping it on, I taped strong neodymium magnets to both sides to keep the flap closed. The envelope was strong but it would be nice to add another layer to make it feel nicer and protect better. I found this thin foam bag that computer parts often come in, and covered the whole envelope with that. Now it looked and felt nicer but it could still be better!
After looking around for a while I found an old binder and decided to strip off the plastic/rubbery cover and use that to cover my sleeve with. The material was durable, smooth, water-resistant, and looked nice.My only issue was that I barely had enough material to cover the envelope so I had to be very strategic. I finally found a way to efficiently place and attach it to the envelope (using tape and glue, again :p) Finally I had to cover the places where the binder material joined together and was taped or cut, so I used some pieces of carbon-fiber adhesive (left-over from my briefcase project) to cover up the edges and seal everything up. I think it turned out pretty nice overall! What do you guys think?
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- The supplies and materials I started with
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- Envelope with area cut out for flap, and magnets taped on
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- New flap cut out of old notebook, magnets taped on to close
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- Whole envelope covered with soft foamy layer
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- Foamy layer cut and glued on
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- Old binders to cover the cover with
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- binder material cut and glued over flap
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- inside of top flap and folding over edges
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- trying to fit the binder material over the whole cover
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- binder material over the back and around
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- inside of flap with laptop inside
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- All glued and taped up! (front)
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- All glued and taped up! (back)
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- Finished Product – Front (with carbon fiber adhesive to cover seams/edges)
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- Finished product – Back
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