Now, my son is a huge fan of Super Mario. So much so, that he dressed as Super Mario for three consecutive years for carnival. When asked what he wanted to become when he grew up, he would say he did not want to grow up since he wanted to become Super Mario, who was tiny.

He and I love to read. Really, really love to read. A kindle was the first bigger thing he actually bought for himself. He likes to take it with him when he goes traveling and it gets a fair bit of bumpy rides. To keep it safe, I made him a nice protective sleeve for it.

A Super Mario themed kindle sleeve.

Materials and Technique

I Adriafil Memphis, a light cotton yarn with a nice shimmering texture. The sleeve is for a normal kindle, so I did not need a lot of yarn. Maybe half a skein. You can make this kind of sleeve for any sort of flat device. your phone, your tablet, even y normal book, actually.

The stitch I used is the basic stitch in Tunisian Crochet. I followed the guide by Mary from Mary Jane’s Mary Janes.

The sides were sewed together with red sport weight cotton that I had lying around. I made the embroidery with normal embroidery floss.

Make your own

Gauge is not terribly important for this project. If you have never done Tunisian crochet or don’t know how the fabric will come out, do a sample swatch first. For this project you want the fabric to be very dense so that the kindle is well-protected against scrapes and bumps.

The Fabric Piece

1. Cast on stitches until you get to the width you want. Remember to make it about 0.5 – 1 cm wider than the device you intend the sleeve for. This will help accommodate the thickness and give you room for sewing.
2. Keep making normal rows until your piece of fabric is twice as long as the device is high.
3. Add another 3-5 centimeters to have room for the flap.
4. Bind off and sew in ends.

Marking Up

1. Position your device on the piece of fabric you made and fold it over, around the device. Mark the top part up until where you want to sew.
2. Mark where you want to embroider.

Sewing and Embroidery

1. Embroider BEFORE you sew the sides together.
2. Sew together the sides and make a decorative suture all around. I jus started at one bottom side and went all around to the other in one go.

Here is a chart for the Mushroom:

Button Holes and Buttons

1. If you want button holes, just mark where you want the loops to go.
2. Fasten the yarn with a slip stitch on one side.
3. Make a chain as long as you need.
4. Fasten it with a slip stitch on the other side.
5. Crochet back in single crochet along the chain.
6. Bind off and sew in ends.
7. Fold over the Flap, mark where the buttons go.
8. Sew on the buttons.

That’s really all you need. Enjoy!