I hadn’t intended to cut up the used book I bought online. But it turned out to be exactly the right size to house my Kindle, and it wasn’t in great shape to begin with, and my whole philosophy about digital publishing is that the physical container is not eternal and shouldn’t be treated with too much reverence… so it seemed like a perfect time to try to make my own retro Kindle case.
And I know this isn’t a new concept, but it’s the first time I tried it, so it was new to me.
I’ve uploaded some photos to Flickr as well, in case you’d rather skip the video and just see detailed beauty shots of my terrible sewing skills.
Flickr set:
By Jenna August 15, 2011 - 10:36 PM
Hey, I really liked your video–this looks like a project I could do. The hardest part seems to be finding a hardcover that will fit the kindle. Could you please post the dimensions of your hardcover book? How many inches tall and wide? And how many inches wide is the spine. It seems you need a spine that is not thick but not too thin. (You can post centimeters if you like, too. I’m American, so I automatically think in terms of inches, but my ruler has both marked, of course!) Thanks. And thanks for taking the time to post this.
By Chris Walters August 16, 2011 - 12:03 AM
I’d say it’s about 5 1/4″ by 7 3/4″ (13.3×19.7 cm). Before I gutted it, it was about 1″ (2.5cm) thick. An inch is probably about as thin as you want to go, although if you find a thicker one, I imagine you can make it work by using thicker cardboard and/or padding the left side that presses against the Kindle screen.
If you talk to book dealers who know book sizes, it seems to be a duodecimo (large) or 12mo (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_size and http://www.abebooks.com/docs/HelpCentral/Glossary/index.shtml#duodecimo ).
The easiest way to pick one out might be to carry your Kindle with you and look for a cover that’s about 3 mm larger than the kindle on all four sides–that’s how I got the idea to use this one. (But I wouldn’t let a used bookstore employee see you with a Kindle or you might get smacked.)
By Juana Atkins September 9, 2011 - 5:51 AM
Thank you for taking the time to share that with your fellow Kindle lovers. I found it very useful. Especially how to do the corner straps. Your way means the back of the book is left clear. I have seen other versions where they have punched holes in the back of the book which was ugly.
By Chris Walters September 9, 2011 - 8:24 AM
Thanks. Although I’m sure the through-the-back approach is a lot stronger, the Kindle 3 is so light that I’ve had no problems with my approach.
Actually, I’m more worried about the spine of the book, which was in pretty bad shape to begin with. If I had it to do again I would probably glue some sort of fabric backing to the inside of the spine to reinforce it, or maybe even use tape of some sort. (I don’t think all books would need this, just ones like mine where the spine had holes in it to start with.)
By Stefan September 19, 2011 - 4:48 PM
Thank you very much! I just made similar one and it works perfectly. I glued the spine from inside with textil adhesive tape, just for shure. Also I did not saw the elastic bends but i glued it. So far it works great. And it looks great too.
By Stefan September 19, 2011 - 4:55 PM
There are some pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150283457571786.329017.611056785&type=1
By Milly January 9, 2012 - 4:47 AM
This is awesome, no word of a lie. Kindle covers are so expensive to buy – and so many of the tutorials I’ve seen have been for pouches as opposed to actual cases. This sort of case is just what I’ve been looking for – and I adore the idea of recycling an old book. Many, many thanks.
By E-Reader Cases | Kimberly Farris March 14, 2012 - 8:13 AM
[...] 2. Hardcover E-reader case from booksprung.com [...]
By Nice Kindle Cases photos June 13, 2012 - 11:26 AM
[...] Homemade Kindle case Image by Scurzuzu There’s a post about this project over at Booksprung.com: booksprung.com/how-to-make-a-kindle-case-from-an-old-book [...]
By Where were you when I needed you February 10, 2013 - 6:09 PM
Unfortunately I had to go out and by a Kindle case after dropping my Kindle on the way into a library. I which I had this info then. I will keep it in mind for when I upgrade my ereader.
By Lauren the Librarian (@anovelintro) May 9, 2013 - 3:23 AM
This librarian is applauding and not crying at all
. I love this idea because the public library throws away literally hundreds of books a year because they have outdated content, are too damaged for use, or have stains/foxing on the pages. Bravo! I like it a lot more than any other hardback-to-ereader-case I’ve seen.