September and a new laptop case

Ah, September. Labour Day passes, school starts and though less than a week has passed, I find myself wearing jeans and shoes again. From bikinis to boots in five days. There are dry leaves on my path and I'm not sure where summer went, but it seems to be gone for now. 

For me, the Tuesday after Labour Day marks the start of a new year much more than January first ever will. I'm a teacher, so a new school year has always felt like the start of the year for me. The students come back taller and tanned and we all have stories to share, from running wild for the past two months. My baseball season is winding down, hockey is about to start and it's time to get back into routines. I'm trying to hold on to the best parts of summer and make them part of my routine. Taking time to paddle, go outside, sit and read and hang out with my cousins. I've cut a lot of time out of my commute, so I'm hoping these things will be easier to fit in.

September is also birthday month in my family. Both my parents, my twin brother and I have our birthdays within about a week, which means 4 cakes and a lot of presents for my sister to buy ;) I'll have to pick out a gluten-free cake this year. Birthday week seems like a good time for a pattern sale too, don't you think?

This year I was given a school laptop, which is very exciting, as we're making the shift to Google Classrooms and I already use my laptop a lot for school. My personal laptop was getting old and now it has more room for my photos and EQ7 on it too :) The laptop cases weren't available yet, so I decided to make my own. I usually carry my Roots leather messenger bag to school, with my laptop in a padded sleeve inside, plus a tote bag for my lunch and shoes and water bottles. Christy from Love You Sew recently posted a tutorial for a Padded Laptop Case that suited my purposes perfectly.

I made a few changes to the pattern so that I could use materials I had on hand. Instead of using the Flex Foam for padding, I used a double layer of some thin cotton batting and quilted it to the outside fabric before I started. I used a single layer of batting for the pocket and quilted it as well, instead of using interfacing. I like the effect of the quilting, but did find it made my seams too thick for the last line of topstitching and I had a bit of trouble with it. So you should probably just follow her instructions - ha! Or maybe just use a single layer of batting if you want to quilt yours too.

I've been going through a lot of magnetic snaps lately, so instead I opted to use a big button (thanks Grandma, for the wide selection!) and a small hair elastic sewn into the seam of the top flap. I was going to get KAM snaps, but couldn't find them and got lazy and decided to go without. I like the option of putting cords in the pocket, but my messenger bag has lots of pockets already and the case fits in snugly enough that the pocket doesn't gape open on me anyway.

I used some of the first quilting fabric I ever bought, which has been sitting on the shelf for a few years waiting for the right project. I decided my letters and typewriter buttons would be perfect for a school laptop case! I decided to use the lining fabric for the pocket as well, to add a little contrast.

It was a fairly quick and fun project and I'm happy with how it turned out. How do you feel about September? Is it the start of the year for you as well? What are your sewing plans?

I'd love to see your thoughts in the comments :)