I’m getting nowhere on the quilt project – I know I’m not going to be happy with the finished outcome and that what I’ll end up doing is making a quilt, then cutting it up to construct a jacket of some sort. So I keep walking away from the strips of fabric sitting at one of my machines.

My avoidance project today, after having put strings of lights on my driftwood sculpture and along my balcony railing, was to make a new iPhone case!

As you an see, my old iPhone case which I made over a year ago has become very shabby. The lambskin (which I bought locally) was very soft and didn’t wear well. I’ve been meaning to make a new iPhone case but haven’t made time to do it. It’s not a big project, I can make one in under two hours. It’s just getting to it. Today was the day.

I used some leather I had bought in New York City in the spring of 2012 at the Leather Skins warehouse. (Check out the lambskins! Yummy! Irresistable! Not outrageously expensive!)

The place was small, on the 11th floor, Suite 1101, 261 W 35th St. The walls were filled with skins from ceiling to floor, sorted by kind, not so much by colour! I was taken with the lamb skins – I bought one in a purple-ish blue. There were actually six matching skins enough to make a jacket and pants – I only took a single skin. I also bought a printed leather skin (rather inexpensive – because a piece had been cut from one end – didn’t matter to me because I was intending to use it used for trim and there was a lot of leather in what remained of the skin). I’ve used small bits and pieces of that printed leather from time to time but most of the skin was still intact. Today I decided to cut a 5 1/4″ strip to make the iPhone case!

Didn’t take long to put the iPhone case together. I grabbed some zipper tape and slides. I dug through my zippered bag fabrics and found one to use for the linings, cut the three pieces I needed for the small pockets, the side pocket and the phone pocket. I looked through my parachute cord stash and picked out one. Finally I cut a small amount of velcro, and chose a button to decorate the closure tab.

I made this bag just a bit wider than the old one – to make room for the credit cards and the cash and the few items I carry in the side pocket. In under two hours I was finished. It’ll be interesting to see how long this one will last. I’m expecting the painted surface will rub off, but the skin is a bit sturdier than the blue leather was so the case may hold up somewhat longer.

In case you’re interested, you can find my instructions for this version of the iPhone case here.