It was time to replace my little Lumix camera. The new one came today and I realized that I had not ordered a case for it. The best place to look locally is Best Buy and you all know I'm not going there! I decided to make a case from one of my Piece O' Cake tote bags. I cut it apart at the edges, leaving the big middle to work from (I have a lot left over).

I measured my camera at and decided that a strip 4" x 12 1/2" would do it. But what if I was wrong? I decided to make a prototype from a Priority Mail padded envelope. I almost never take the time to do this but it's a really good thing to do.

I folded the strip over the camera to see where to place the bottom fold, leaving enough for the flap.

I sewed the strip right sides together with 1/4" seams, then turned it right sides out.

The flap was too wide and needed to be trimmed. I reinforced it with duct tape because I may keep this prototype in my luggage, just in case…

The case was just a little tight so I made the real one from a 4 1/4" wide strip.

The ends of the seams are backstitched, a lot. I folded the bottom corners and sewed across the corners to make gussets at the bottom fold.

Turning it right sides was sort of tough. I used that green stick that I've had for years to pop the corners out. then I trimmed the flap.

I decided to sew on velcro rather than using the sticky kind. Sewing it on the flap was easy – and then I realized that I should have sewn the other side on before sewing the case together. I had to unstitch some of one side to sew it on. If you make one, remember that part.

It's way cuter than the worn out pink one that was on my old phone. And it was free!

We're taking Jack and Elanor to Tanglewood today to swim and play and spend the night. It's a resort on Lake Texoma with a big pool and a nice restaurant. Maybe I'll get some good photos with the new camera :-).