Weave a Pin Loom Keyboard Case

I recently got a really neat little bluetooth keyboard and pencil to go with my IPad. There are a bunch of these little bluetooth keyboards available now (and I am not commercially connected with any of them).  I love the idea that I can turn my Ipad into a productive station any place I like but I’m not at all comfortable carrying around an unprotected keyboard and now I had multiple pieces of equipment that I had to keep track of.

What a perfect opportunity for a made-to-order pin loom keyboard case.

This was a small, fun project that gave me the perfect container for both keyboard and pencil. The keyboard is 6” x 12” by about 1”. I used my 4” x 6” pin loom to weave seven 4” x 6” rectangles in Paton’s worsted weight brown marl. Marl is light and dark yarns twisted together, in this case, brown and cream. It can (almost) give the look of a solid piece of cloth. The seven 4” x 6” rectangles were joined using double overcast stitch. Check out information on the stitch here and watch a video about using it here. I turned down the corners of one end and stitched in place. This end will be the flap. I edged the fabric strip in single crochet using a medium brown worsted weight yarn.

I then doubled the fabric over to form the keyboard case with about 3.5” of flap left over. I wove an extra 2” x 4” rectangle in the brown marl and stitched it to the inside of the flap for reinforcement. I used the same brown yarn to whip stitch the sides together. You can see information about joining crocheted edges here. The bag was then wet finished — washed very gently in cool water and steam blocked it lightly after it was dry. I sewed a button on the outside of the flap with another, smaller button as reinforcement on the inside.

I wanted a pocket for the pencil that I could keep closed but that was simple and easy to use. 

The pencil pocket was woven using one 2” x 6” and one 2” x 4” worsted weight tan and cream marl. The 2” x 4” was folded over the end of the 2” x 6” rectangle with the ends stitched together to make a loop of fabric. The pocket was appliqued to the outside of the bag, using the brown yarn to whip stitch it in place.

The final piece was a 10” crochet chain that I ran through the fabric loop and joined the ends together. This chain can be looped a couple times around the button to keep the flap closed and the pencil in place.

Making the keyboard case was a fun, relatively quick project and it has worked really well. I love that I can throw it in my bag--the keyboard is not going to get scratched, and the pencil is aways right with it. You may not be looking for a keyboard bag but the style works very well for tablets, phones or any other electronic bits that you may want to protect.  Plus it gives you a place to stow away all that stuff so that you can weave more-- which is always a good move.  Happy weaving!