Handmade Leather iPod Nano Case

Jeepers!  Thank very much for your super nice comments about my dress/top (and even my figure!).  My current dress size has nothing to do with luck, I have been punishing pushing myself at my local gym and living on chunky soup and it seems to be working?  That said, I have been treating myself to just 1 Reese's Peanut Butter Cup a day (sent to me by the clever Florence.)  If you like peanut butter at all you NEED to get your shoes on and pop the shops this instant because these sweet treats are seriously drool-ish!

Everyone knows going to the gym is pretty miserable, but I find it just about bearable if I have some high beats per minute tunes on my ipod.  After shelling out for an a nano I didn't really want to have to shell out for a case as well and I don't fancy wearing an armband at the gym because it will make me look like I take excercise seriously...

Isn't so annoying that there is a whole industry involved in keepy your new shiny gadgets looking shiny and new?  There's just too much stress in keeping things scratch free.  Why the flipping heck does the back of a Apple Nano have to be polished steel anyway?!!  Anyways, I am indeed uptight about about keeping things looking new, but as a sewer of bags I think I shouldn't buy cases as a matter of principle.

I had a nice scrap fine navy leather in my stash, shame it wasn't a raspberry red or cream colour to go with the green nano, but hey ho. 

• I chose leather because it would offer protection without bulk and also you can leave the edges raw.  I might make another cover in oilcloth for the same reasons.
• I placed some tracing paper onto the Nano and traced the width of the screen and the scroll wheel to get the template for the hole.  I then traced that shape onto the leather and cut out the shape. 
• I then got some clear vinyl (from John Lewis in London; sold as shower curtain by the metre), placed the vinyl onto the wrong side of the leather cut-out and then slowly top stitched around the shape (which was pretty stressful). 
• I made a loop and hook for the cover and stitched that onto the front of the cover. I then cut out the leather back of the cover and stitched the front to the back all around the sides and top of the cover. Job done!

I don't like having small gadgets in my pockets because they can fall out (especailly whilst attempting sit-ups in the gym).  I think hooking things onto things is safer and the metalware makes things looks more gadget-y (Lisa is a geek, Lisa needs to get out more, la la la!)

I'm happy with the way it turned out except that my machine wasn't too keen on sewing through 3 layers of leather (where the loop is attached to the front).  So my machine went a bit wobbly. I had to go back and sew some recinforcing hand stitches through the loop.  I mean, how annoyed would I be if was on the treadmill and my Ipod escaped it's loop and went whizzing into the mech. of the treadmill?  It would be hilarious - not.

The cover is open at the bottom so the nano just slides in and out.  The cover is snug enough at the sides so the player doesn't jump out.

Back of cover