I went to Portland Church of Craft this Sunday, which was so much fun. Fifty-two people came out to craft with felted sweaters, and everyone made such cool things! I already knew that I wanted to sew a pig-something to celebrate the Chinese New Year. So I thought about doing a pincushion or a stuffed toy, and then realized that my iPod could desperately use a soft little case — bingo. I improvised this one on the spot and took some pictures along the way. So if you want to make a lucky little Year of the Pig iPod cozy, here’s how I stitched mine!

But first, a quick note: If you’re a knitter, be sure to check out M.K. Carroll‘s “Mobile Monster” pattern from Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation — that’s what I used to make my pink pig cellphone cozy last year. Since her design definitely inspired me, I want to give full credit to her beautiful work. Like her adorable pattern, my new felted pig has buttons for the eyes and nose, and triangles for the ears, even though its construction and materials are different. (p.s. don’t miss her super cute etsy shop!)

This is a very easy piece to sew, and you can probably finish it in under an hour. It could also be adapted to hold a camera, phone, or any other little electronic-type thing.

You’ll need:

Sharp scissors
A piece of felted sweater, at least 12 inches by 4 inches for a full-size iPod
Big-eye sewing needle and heavy thread (for the blanket stitch)
Regular sewing needle and thread (for stitching on the buttons)
Two small buttons for the eyes
One large button for the nose

1. Place your iPod on the piece of felted sweater (as shown in the first pic above) and cut it to size so it’s slightly wider than the iPod on both sides. Just eye it, erring on the generous side — you can always trim it to size later. Length-wise, just make sure it completely folds over the iPod twice, plus there’s enough for a flap for the pig’s face. For a full-size version, I cut my felted wool piece so it was 3.5 inches wide and 12 inches long.

2. Make a narrow fold on the bottom edge and pin it down. Use your big-eye needle and heavier thread to sew a running stitch securing that seam (as shown in the second pic above). Then fold that bottom section up towards the middle with the raw edge inside, pinning both sides, so that your iPod can slip in easily.

3. Now you’ll use a blanket stitch to sew both sides of the cozy. Once you finish the first side, knot it securely. Check to see if your iPod fits in neatly or if there’s too much room — if there is, trim the second side and re-pin it. Blanket-stitch the second side the same way.

4. Shape and trim the top so it’s a neat curve, and blanket-stitch all the way around that, too.

5. Now it’s time for the fun part: making the face! Cut two small triangles out of felted wool for ears (mine were about 3/4 inch on each side) and blanket-stitch two sides of one. Attach the third (bottom) side of the ear-triangle to one side of the top of the cozy, also using blanket stitch. Repeat with the second one.

6. Use your smaller needle and normal thread to stitch on the eyes and nose buttons. You could also do a little embroidery or felt applique, or add rick-rack or something else cool.

Here are a few more pictures from the Church of Craft meeting — I brought Pink Craftie along, of course…

…and I even got to meet Heather of CROQ, and got a peek at the new issue (which I have a craft project in!). It looks awesome, I can’t wait to get my copy in the mail. And if you want to see more cool felted stuff, Diane posted her pictures and a cute write-up, too! It was such a fun afternoon.