Having bought an iPod a couple of years ago, I can hardly say I have used it much. In the beginning, I went through fazes of using it and then discarding it - music on the move didn’t seem to suit me. This was mostly because of my irritation with constantly having to put the earphones back into my ears, however, it was also because I feared the extreme cost I may face if the battery went (I’d saved up for months to buy it).

We’re now about 2 years on and the warranty has well and truly expired. For some reason, I now have no qualms about replacing the battery myself should the need arise (I found out you can get replacement batteries for around £15 on amazon, which is better than the £80 I thought it would cost). So the iPod (named “Dopi” by a friend) has come out of hibernation.

When I first bought it, I made a nice little knitted cosy for it based on this pattern by Cat of Cut Out + Keep. Last week, whilst searching for possible products to improve for my DT coursework, I came across various lovely iPod covers made from felt.

iPod covers made by Suezy Bees - after finding these, I looked around (+ loved) the rest of her shop

iPod sleeve made by Crafty Daisies - includes a mini tutorial

Naturally, it got me thinking it was high time I made a new cover for Dopi. I had tried to make one out of felt originally, but it had fallen apart in a matter of weeks.

Of course, my sewing skills have advanced a little since then, so I figured I’d give it a go. Sadly, I only had two shades of felt in my fabric box - lime green and white. I figured that I ought to make use of what I had rather than purchase any new fabric (though if I do make one again, I’d buy some nicer colours) and so, I set about making a new cover.

I didn’t bother with a pattern and quite literally made it up as I went along (very bad). I ended up hand-sewing it all because if I remember correctly, the fabric went weird last time I attempted to machine-sew it. Of course, this posed no problem since I decided to use a contrasting orange thread (not embroidery thread sadly, though this is another thing I’d buy if I were to make another) in a blanket stitch to sew it together.

I then attempted (badly, because I’ve never really done proper embroidery before) to do an appliqué design with a touch of embroidery on the front. I initially wanted to used some Velcro to provide a fastening, but of course, I did not have any. Instead, I used a snap fastener, which proved just as good because it fastens & you cannot see it from the front.

Detail of my iPod cover

Overall, I’m fairly happy with it. After all, I may not be able to afford a new iPod, but I can give my old one a new look!