Hoodie Laptop Sleeve

Turn and old hooded sweatshirt into a protective laptop sleeve.

First let me say don't be intimidated by the fact that this involves sewing, this is only the 2nd thing I have ever sewn using a machine, and it turned out just fine.

You will need:
- An old Hoodie.
- Scissors
- Something to mark with.
- A sewing machine (or the appropriate hand sewing skills) with the applicable needle and thread for your chosen method.
- A ruler/Strait edge if you don't wanna eyeball it like I did.
- pins.

Step 1: Mark your sweat shirt

Step 1. Layout your sweatshirt as flat as you can (Image One)

Step 2. Lay your laptop about 3 cm (about 1 inch) above the bottom band and try to center it left to right on the pocket. (Image Two)

Step 3. Use chalk, a sharpie, crayons, human blood, or anything that will show up on the fabric to trace out a line leaving about 1.5 cm (about a half inch) padding around the laptop and an extra 1.5 cm at either the top or right side depending on which you would prefer to be the opening. (I used the top, also i just eye balled this as I'm sure will be more than apparent, so you may want to use a ruler for this). The margin will vary vary depending on the thickness of your laptop, just guestimate and you should be ok... the measurements listed are for my laptop which is only about 4 cm thick.


P.S. don't worry to much about marking up the fabric as the edges will be sewn and trimmed before we are done.

Comments

[jessiquita11]

Awesome.. just made one.. Used the sleeve instead for the charger.. made it into a little pouch using the cuff as the top of the pouch. Made it more of triangle shape so the cuff was smaller than the base. Only sewn on 2 sides. Goes great with this and then I won't stretch out the pocket on the front!

[wetnap]

Interesting, though I took the idea and bonded layers of fabric using a tube of clear caulk instead. I find the stiffness that results adds more protection than just a floppy bag.

[SageMinto]

This is such a cool idea! I was looking for a DIY for my old hoodie. Specifically a bag to carry a laptop-like device I have(an alphasmart). I look forward to making this.

[SageMinto]

I forgot to ask...how should I go about following this process if I have a hoodie with a zipper down the front?

[sfcsarah]

 very cool design. I like the texture

[randomguy96]

i found this through a group called ninja tools. why would a ninja need a laptop in the middle of a mission? so he could throw it at someone? seriously people.

[hawkfrost64]

 maybe he needed to look something up.
or email his wife he wants hamburgers for dinner.
you never know.

[randomguy96]

Or look up something on instructables because he left his shuriken at home!

[TabLeft]

they probably meant to link my Post-It Ninja Star

[the4est]

i think this could be even more handy if you use the sleeves as a shoulder strap!

[a.nony.mouse]

now that, my friend, is a clever idea!

[Dorkfish92]

Great idea! I'm goana make one of these for my Mini 9!

[stephen2]

Love it! made my own in about 30 min. great idea, i especially like the pocket!

[iTone]

Thanks so much for this. I have an old hoodie that i was going to throw away and now i have a use for it. :D

[crazypete]

I like my hoodies too much for this, and i dont have any old ones :(. I might just pop down to primark and get one for like a fiver coz i had a great idea of sewing one end of the pocket up then put a zip on the other end and then voila you have an extra pocket to put mouse and charger in!

[LolaVaughn]

Great way to give old life to an old hoodie! I was wondering though, what type of thread did you use? Something heavy duty I hope? It would be rather unfortunate to go through all the trouble and then have it fall apart at the seams just a few months later. Thanks for sharing!

[TabLeft]

wow, this thing has been on Threadbanger, Craftzine, Craftstylish ... If i had known it was gonna be so popular i would have used a nicer hoodie... and maybe measured... lol

[chaitanyak]

going to make one today !

[hernanai]

I was desperate to make one of these so bad... although I didn't have any sweaters to make this out of, I managed to make one out of a 12" X 18" blank canvas. It worked really well!!! There was no cutting involved what-so-ever after the initial cut. After sewing the edges together it was snug like a book cover and allowed for an even better grip on my laptop. And as a bonus you can draw on the canvas to give it personality or paint it. It's fine the way it is blank. I cut a small hole in the back so I can charge it at the same time. Kudos to the instructable for the idea!!!

[kmpeltier]

my friend has a purse sort of like this. the difference is whoever made it sewed the sleeves together to make a shoulder strap. i never thought of this possibility. good idea!

[hernanai]

Holy Crap... and my brother has 7 hoodies he's not using anymore.... think of the possiblities!!!

[buchd]

This is great! I have an abnormally sized laptop (weird battery shape, wide screen), so I haven't been able to find a good bag yet. I think I will try this, thanks!

[superstar]

You should sew the sides shut and THEN do the top rolled-edge. That way you'll get a nicer finish and your side seams will be more durable since they're rolled in.

[phrakture]

This is a pretty good idea. How about some "how I use it" pics?

[TabLeft]

Uhm... I use it as shown above, and in the last step. Apart from putting my laptop and cables inside, I put it in a backpack for transportation thats about it. Did you have something specific in mind?

[phrakture]

Hmm, I just meant... well, it's a cool idea but I have no idea how you'd transport something like that. Do you keep it in yet another bag? Carry it by itself? etc?

[TabLeft]

i just put it in my backpack once the cover is on. The cover is just to keep the other things in my backpack from scratching the finish, its dirty in the pic but the laptop has a high gloss finish which i have manages to keep unscratched since. I used to keep it in a designated laptop case (messenger style) but I ride a motor cycle to work now and I needed to bring my laptop. I built this only because laptop back packs that will take a 17 inch widescreen are about $100 and sleeves for then are $30+ so I made my own.

[Ephdisc]

I LIKE IT! Oh, you should silk screen it. That would make this really awesome.

[TabLeft]

already planned too