Designer Phone Case Inspirations

Welcome back for another fabulous Group Post Project Day for the Papertrey Ink July 2014 Release. Do I ever have something for you today! We've been keeping the super fun stitching dies to create phone cases for your Apple iPhone 4 and 5 under wraps this entire release. I love surprises. Hope you are tickled with this one.

Tomorrow at 10 PM EST I'm releasing two die sets to add to my line of stitching dies. We've got the Phone Case Die Collection that cuts the case, an optional notch, and an optional strap to close up the top. And to decorate the cases, there is the new Phone Case Detail Die Collection that has some fabulous basic shapes that jazz up your cases and beyond. If you are a stitching die fan, the Details are a must have to your collection:).

As always, there is an assembly tutorial so you can see how the phone cases come together. Just click play.



Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, the Phone Case Stitching Dies were designed to fit the iPhone 4 and 5. The iPhone 4 is approximately 1/2" shorter than the iPhone 5. The width is pretty much the same. If you want a snugger fit for your 4, after die cutting your felt or fabric, I recommend taking your paper trimmer and trimming off the top two holes of your case before sewing up the sides. But if you choose not to, I think it works too. It will just be a bit longer for holding a 4 than a 5.

Also, I know many of us have hard cases on our phones already. I have this low profile case on my iPhone 5. And with it on my phone, these felt/fabric sleeves still fit. So you can do both at the same time. And can I just mention that the two die collections combined are cheaper than my hard case? There is some serious value here. Felt cases for everybody I know! HA! Great Christmas and birthday gifts.

At this point, I prefer to have mine in a felt sleeve in addition to my hard case. I started making these phone cases two weeks ago and was a quick convert. I think I went a day without one since and it was odd. I'm so happy with how pretty and practical these are for my day-to-day life.

Let's get to my projects. I have a lot of stuff to show you.

This is the felt phone case I made in the video above. I used the heart die from the Phone Case Detail Die Collection to cut holes in my Terracotta Tile felt case and I beaded it with white beads for a whole new look.

Here's a close up of the beading. I looped my thread through twice on each bead to make it more secure.

Here's the back of my case. I chose to create a closure by utilizing the strap included in the Phone Case Die Collection. This particular strap consists of two pieces of felt fused together with Heat N' Bond. I recommend this for durability. The plastic coating of the Heat N'Bond between the layers prevents wear and tear as well as stretching.

The strap is secured to the back of the phone case by the center rectangle with a criss cross design. A coordinating die that cuts just these holes is included in the Phone Case Die Collection.

My phone case is secured closed with Velcro tabs. I found some specifically made for fabric at Joann's. This is important to note because the other Velcro tabs said (in fine print) on the back they are not intended for fabric. So just make a note of that if you go shopping.

Next up, I created a monogrammed felt and fabric for my sister. I used Heat N' Bond again to stabilize my fabric for cutting and then for fusing onto the felt lining before stitching it up.

The Sew Stylish Alphabet 1 and 2 from the June Release are the perfect way to personalize the phone cases. Adore this look. My sister's name is Elizabeth. But we can easily make the "E" for "Erin", if for some reason I can't part with this one. :)  (Just joking...any excuse to make more phone cases is OK for me...so relaxing and fun.)

I'm sure thankful to Dawn for designing the new Tag Sale #11. It makes not only a great luggage tag, but a cut die cut cell phone that matches up perfectly for my phone cases as well.

I created a mini card with the Tag Sale #11 to match my case. Bubble Talk Dies and a masked/selectively inked sentiment from Special Delivery Sentiments serve as my text talk. I stamped out "text me" with the new Wet Paint Alphabet in Soft Stone Ink over Polka Dot Basics stamped in Harvest Gold.

Have I mentioned I have made eight of these sweet little things? This one could be considered "plain jane" because it only uses the Phone Case Dies without any extra embellishment. But the use of material makes it anything but boring. I choose this brown batik fabric for the case body and a brown textured suede for my strap to match my hard case. Both suede and fabric were treated with Heat N'Bond first for stability while die cutting and for fusing the layers together before stitching. New to Heat N'Bond? I did a video tutorial awhile back. You can view it here.

 Next up, another gift ensemble for a friend. Doesn't she have the best initials? I created this phone sleeve out of Simply Chartreuse Felt and decorated it with the harlequin design from the Phone Case Details Collection. There is a single diamond that can be used to overlay over the top of the diamond group dies for contrast.

I used the Phone Case Detail Dies to cut the same harlequin pattern out of cardstock. I stitched them up with thread to match my case perfectly. The sentiment is from the new Keep It Simple: Thinking of You and the initials were created using the Sew Simple Alphabet 1. I felt the Argyle Impression Plate used on half of my card base helped to tie things together.

Notice on this phone sleeve that I opted NOT to use the strap. This works just as well too. I concentrated on all the stitching for the harlequin design. I used this die twice to cover the entire surface of the phone case.

The back of the phone case is also decorated with her monogram using the Sew Stylish Alphabet 1 and Blueberry Sky felt.

Next up, I wanted to revisit the heart die from the Phone Case Details Collection. For another new twist on the stitching dies, I opted to die cut my heart out of my case and just leave the holes unstitched. Super basic, but very cool.

The heart die looks GREAT on paper as well. A great opportunity to play around with threading different items through the holes, such as this safety pin. The heart tag is from the Tiny Tags Die. I used Lizzie's fabulous new These United States and State Abbreviations and Maile's Tag Sale #9 to create a some lovely "packaging" for my felt case.  Handmade in MD indeed. And proudly.:)

Another monogrammed case for my other sister. This time I die cut the zig zag from Phone Case Detail Die Collection twice in my Lavender Moon felt case and stitched it up in two different colors of floss. Wait until you see what Heather did with the zig zag. It's FABULOUS.

One last example out of fabric and utilizing the chevron from the Cell Phone Detail Dies Collection. This was originally an oopsie! I cut the holes for the chevron into my phone case on the wrong end. I had intended to have them on the bottom and pointing down. But you know what, I really like how they worked out. Very trendy.

I made a strap for this phone case. This one is closed with a snap. It takes a bit of work to cover up the stitching for the backside of the snap. It is hidden with a flower created from the Bitty Button Collection and Vintage Cream Felt. Doable, workable...but I prefer the Velcro, I think. A hundred times easier.

OK. You still with me? I know it was a big blog post! I hope you are as excited as I am about this new collection of stitching dies. Are you going to create wardrobe for your phone like I did? My husband saw all of mine on my dresser and said, "You are pretty darn proud of yourself, aren't you?" YEP! And if you don't have an iPhone, I'm guessing you know more than a few people who do. These are great gifts that are sure to be appreciated. Although you might want to watch it, once people start using them, they might ask you to make more.

I'm downright giddy to see what all the other girls have come up with...click right along with me on the links below.

Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Dawn McVey
Maile Belles
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillips
Danielle Flanders
Laura Bassen
Laurie Willison
Ashley Cannon Newell
Lizzie Jones
Melissa Bickford

Interested in adding these dies to your collection? They will be available on July 15th at 10 PM EST at www.papertreyink.com.

Thanks for all your support! I appreciate it. Without your enthusiasm over the last few months for the stitching dies, new products like these wouldn't be possible. Ya'll inspire me to keep creating. And that's a good thing. My gratitude to you for it...if only for  purely crafty selfish reasons. If I didn't sell a single stitching die, I'd be happy...just as long as I could get my hands on them myself. I love these things! Thanks for keeping my wildest crafty dreams alive. Glad there are those of you who feel the same. :)

Supplies

Beaded Heart Case
Dies: Phone Case and Phone Case Detail Dies
Terracotta Tile Felt
Beads
Floss

Monogrammed E Fabric Case
Dies: Phone Case Dies, Sew Simple Alphabets 1 and 2
Fabric Velcro Tabs
Fabric (Joann's)
Floss

Cell Phone Mini Card
Dies: Tag Sale #11, Bubble Talk, Love Lives Here
Stamps: Wet Paint Alphabet, Polka Dot Basics, Special Delivery Sentiments
Cardstock: Melon Berry, Aqua Mist, Terracotta Tile, Stamper's Select White
Ink: Harvest Gold, Soft Stone, Tropical Teal

Batik Case
Dies: Phone Case 
Fabric Velcro Tabs
Fabric (Joann's) and suede (Hobby Lobby)
Floss

HIP Case
Dies: Phone Case Dies, Phone Case Detail Dies, Sew Simple Alphabets 1 and 2
Simply Chartreuse, Spring Moss, Blueberry Sky Felt
Vintage Cream Buttons
Crochet Thread

HIP Card
Stamps: Keep It Simple: Thinking of You
Dies: Phone Case Detail Dies, Sew Simple Alphabets 1, Argyle Impression Plate
Cardstock: Limeade Ice, Blueberry Sky, Spring Moss

Heart Case
Dies: Phone Case Dies, Phone Case Detail Dies
Pure Poppy Felt

Heart Tag
Dies: Tag Sale #9, Phone Case Detail Dies, Tiny Tags
Cardstock: Classic Kraft, Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy
Stamps: These United States, States Abbreviations

J Monogrammed Case
Dies: Phone Case Dies, Phone Case Detail Dies, Sew Simple Alphabets 1 and 2
Lavender Moon and Smokey Shadow Felt
Floss

Chevron Fabric Case
Dies: Phone Case Dies, Phone Case Detail Dies, Button Stack 2
Fabric
Floss
Pure Poppy Felt
Harvest Gold Button