My very nice roommate lets me use her Nintendo DS all the time. She has been keeping it in a little styrofoam sleeve that it came in, but it was starting to fall apart. So, the other night when she was out, I decided to give it an upgrade, and came up with this:
Here is how to make one of your own!
Materials Needed:
Scrap material (less than ½ yard should be fine)
Fusible interfacing
Closed cell foam (see example here)
Velcro (sticky or sew on is fine)
Instructions:
1. Cut out the following pieces from material:
- 6 pieces that are 4½” x 6½”
- 4 pieces that are 1½” x 4½” (side piece)
- 4 pieces that are 1½” x 6½” (edge piece)
Cut out the following pieces from interfacing:
- 6 pieces that are 4½” x 6½”
- 2 pieces that are 1½” x 4½”
- 2 pieces that are 1½” x 6½”
Cut the following pieces from closed cell foam:
- 3 pieces that are 3¼” x 5¼”
2. Iron the interfacing on to the matching pieces. For the edge and top pieces, you will only attach interfacing to two of the four pieces because these do not need to be as stiff as the front, back and flap.
3. Pin two of the 4½” x 6½” pieces with right sides together. Sew along three edges, leaving one of the shorter ends open. Repeat with the other two pairs.
4. Clip corners.
5. Turn right side out and press.
6. Insert the closed cell foam into the pocket that you’ve made. It should have a bit of wiggle room inside this pocket, enough to topstitch around. If you need to trim it smaller, this is the time to do that.
7. Turn the edges in of the open side and pin. Topstitch closed. I switched thread here to a contrasting color; you can if you want as well. I used a topstitching needle for this part to get neater stitches. Continue topstitching all around the outside edge for all three pieces.
8. Do the same thing for the edge and top pieces. Stitch on three sides with right sides together, clip corners, turn right side out, and press. Topstitch opening closed, and also the other short edge.
9. Pin one of the side pieces (1½” x 4½”) to one of the larger pieces. Sew together. Repeat with the other side piece.
10. Pin and sew another one of the large pieces to the sides that were just attached to get this:
11. Now it starts to get tricky. Pin and sew one of the edge pieces to the front of the “tube” that you have made.
12. Now pin and sew the newly attached edge to the other side.
13. Take your last remaining large piece and edge piece; pin and sew them together.
14. This step is particularly tough to execute. I had to move my sewing machine needle alignment to the left to get it lined up right. You will be sewing through a lot of fabric. Pin and sew the edge flap that you made in the last step onto the main body of the piece. Make sure the seams will face the same way as the others (out).
15. Attach your Velcro. Stick it on if you have the sticky kind. I had the sew on kind, so I just sewed it on by hand, just catching the top layer of material.
16. You’re finished! Now, go and travel and play your DS in style!
Here’s a few more views of the finished product:
Here’s an easy-to-print version in pdf: nintendo-ds-cover-tutorial
If you make one, or have already made something similar, leave a note in the comments, I would love to see what you’ve made!!!
Neat-o! I have one of those ugly, bulky Nerf covers on my pink DS. This would be perfect. Maybe I will pull out the ole sewing machine after all! Great instructions and pictures!
I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.
Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the
same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on.
You have done a wonderful job!