Stitched Wool Laptop Case

The weird thing One of the (many) weird things about me is that when I am stressed out I am at my most creative.  I'll have fourteen deadlines and a calendar covered in black ink and suddenly feel the overwhelming urge to knit a sweater and re-paint a whole dining room set.  Hey, it's better than smoking crack, right?  So with a complete mess in my beautiful basement; a pile of business cards on my table from plumbers, flood clean-up guys, insurance adjusters, and contractors; and two new patched-up holes in my front yard, I knew it was time to get out the scissors and spray paint.

One project that had been on my list for a while was a sleeve for my laptop.  In the summer, when I was home, I found an old leather book bag my parents had given me when I was maybe 8 or 9.  It even has my monogram on it!  I don't think I used it for very long, since it wasn't very big and wasn't all that cool at the time... But now it seems all kinds of cool, and the perfect size for my laptop to boot.

The only problem was that it had no lining for my most precious baby, er, I mean computer.  When I saw this tutorial on Design*Sponge, I realized I had found my solution.   I had bought a sample of some lovely soft herringbone wool ages ago at a fundraiser for the Textile Museum, and had never known what to do with it.  I dug it up and paired it with a bright green embroidery thread.

I followed the instructions somewhat, and made them up somewhat as I went along.  All my sewing stuff was under plastic in the basement so I had to improvise. :)  William helped me sew the top of the case down - I would put the needle into the wool and he would grab it and walk away with it until it was taught.  It took a LONG TIME but that's ok.  I finished the sides up with the oh-so-beautiful blanket stitch, and slid it in my briefcase.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!  What do you think?  Are you a stress-crafter?  Or am I one of a kind? :p