Sewing - Custom Laptop Case

When I was in the US in August I found some amazing Disney Villains material at Joann's Fabrics.  I had to have it, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it.  I recently purchased a small convertible laptop to take to crops with me and it needed a case.  I decided to make myself a case from the wonderful fabric.

Unfortunately since I was not following a pattern and I was winging it as I went, I did not think to take photos.  I hope the sketches below are enough information.  There really is no pattern since you will want to fit your laptop and every one is slightly different.

To start, I measure the laptop and cut two pieces of cardboard the size of the top and the bottom of the closed laptop.  This will give it some stability (but also makes it not washable, I am trying to come up with something different). 

I then laid the cardboard out on my material to gauge the size rectangle I wanted to cut. I left a 1 inch allowance on either side and the bottom and a little extra on the top to be safe.  I also left an inch in the middle between the two pieces of cardboard as that is the width of my closed laptop. 

I ended up cutting two pieces of this large rectangle (front and back):

I also cut one piece that was 9 inches by 2 3/4 inches (approx) to use as a closure. 

I added fusible fleece to all pieces again for some stability and padding. 

I sewed the closure piece first by sewing three sides and turning right side out and ironing flat and sewing the final opening.  I added velcro to one end that will close on the laptop case. 

I estimated where I wanted this piece to go and sewed it in place.  It was the center of the bottom of the bottom piece of fabric. 

This is the part that I found trickiest.  I needed to add elastic to the top piece, the piece that would be against my laptop.  The elastic is used to hold the laptop in place.  I place one elastic just below the keyboard and above the mouse pad, the second is above the keyboard, and the third is below the camera above the screen. I pinned the elastics in place on the wrong side of the fabric before sewing.

I sewed my two larger rectangles wrong sides together on the sides and the bottom allowing for 1/4 inch seam allowance. I was careful not to catch the closure I had sewn on in the previous step.  I turned them right side out and ironed them.  I put one piece of cardboard in and sewed a seam as close to the cardboard as I could.  I left an inch (the width of my closed laptop and sewed another seam as close to the cardboard as I could. (See the blue lines in the below diagram for reference). 

Before sewing the top closed, I added the velcro to the top for the closure. 

Open:

Closed:

I then carefully sewed the top closed by folding the raw edges inside and sewing on the outer edge.

Here is the finished project.  I love this fabric so much, I do have some left over and cannot decide that to make with it!