Kindle Hardcover Book Tutorial

[lindapendant.livejournal.com]

I made a Kindle cover using a hardcover book today.

I am really jazzed about how this thing turned out because it exceeded my expectations by at least 83%.



More photos and a tutorial under the cut



The Kindle looks bigger than the cover in this photo, but it's not. Must be a weird angle, the Kindle fits perfectly with no overhang.






I used a book measuring 7 1/2 inches long by 5 inches wide with a spine measuring 1 1/4 inches to make this cover.

I removed the pages using an exacto knife and gently pulled them away from the spine. Sorry, book. RIP.





The spine on this book needed reinforcement, so I measured out the inner spine and traced it out on some 1/16th inch thick leather. Sorry, cow.



I cut that out and glued it down with a glue gun. I used a glue gun for this entire project. I spent time looking into a suitable glue and never did find something I thought would work as well as my trusty glue gun. It bonded motherly loving well for this project.



I left a gap at the top and bottom of the spine, about 1/4 inch, so the leather doesn't show.



I chose a fabric that resembles the pricey lead and end pages you will find in quality leather bound volumes. This is a silky textured fabric that subtly changes colour in the light. I had it on hand from another project I made - serendipity!

I covered the spine first. I cut a piece of the lining fabric the width of the spine plus two inches, and the length of the spine plus two inches. I folded the top edge under and glued it in place along the upper edge of the book cover.



Then I glued the vertical edges down, keeping the lining taught as I went along.



I folded the bottom edge under and glued that down.



So now the inside cover looks like this.



To line the backs of the covers, I measured the length and width of the inner book cover and cut out some 1/16th inch rigid plastic. This is what I had on hand, you can use wood but I wouldn't recommend something like a corrugated cardboard.



I cut out a piece of lining that would completely wrap around the plastic components.



I set down the plastic on the fabric, and glued down the length of the lining, keeping it taut as I went along.



I cut the upper and lower corners at an angle, and cut away the excess lining on the wrong side, like so.



I folded the corner edges inward and glued them down. Sort of like how you wrap the ends of a present.



I did the same for the other end, keeping the fabric taut. It ends up looking like this. A hot mess, but it doesn't matter, it's not going to show. The glue is smudged all over the place because I smooshed down the lining to keep it smooth and add less bulk as I went along. Doing that means that excess glue gets pulled away and also burns the heck out of your fingers but some things are worth suffering for.



Next, I used some very thin tubular elastic, this stuff:


Regardez, c'est en français!

This will be used on the corners of the inner cover that was just prepared. It's going to keep the kindle in place. So that it doesn't fall into the bathtub.

I measured out where I wanted the elastic to fall so that it didn't interfere with the page advance buttons.



Using these measurements, I marked the back side of the lined cover to indicate where all the elastic would be placed. Then I glued it down in place, keeping the elastic taut.



It ends up looking like this:



I glued down the inner lined cover onto the inside of the back cover, that is, the right hand side of the cover when your book is open. You're going to want to make sure you check that you're gluing it down correctly because you only get one shot at it.

I covered the second plastic sheet in the same manner as above, but of course, didn't repeat the steps for the elastic, then I glued it down onto the inner front cover.

Done. You can go immerse your fingers in ice water now. Later on, you can go read in the tub without fear of your Kindle taking a dive.