Locker Hooked & Stitched iPad Cover – Egyptian Figs Motif

DesignTheresa Pulido

Did you know the Egyptian fig tree is known to have sprouted as far back as 3,000 B.C.? I egyptiantreegoddess4love Egyptian history and this bit of info is what inspired me to create a fig motif design for my iPad cover. How fun to juxtapose something so ancient in a design that functions as a protective cover for something so modern.  The colors I chose are also the exact opposite of the neutral, modern white of the iPad–wonderful contrasts in design and color.

I wanted it to be padded so I chose to use the “ruched frames” technique. Here’s how I locker hooked and stitched it:

First I settled on a simple fig motif design after trying different ideas.

First, I settled on a simple (Egyptian) fig motif design after trying different ideas.

Here is the final locker hooked frame with the stitched in figs. I chose 5-mesh canvas and the Wheat Poppana strips to locker hook the frames for texture–leaving a one square row around the edge for further framing. I stitched in padding with heavy matching yarn.

Locker hooked frame with fig motif stitched in.
Locker hooked frame with fig motif stitched in.

I chose two rich colors that contrast well and complement the modern, neutral color of my white and chrome iPad–Mulberry wine and Copper hand-dyed Color Crazy fabric strips. I could have reversed the colors for the design as I believe Egyptian figs are more of a dark orange, but I do love the way this turned out.

Almost complete--Ruched Frames stitched in half of cover.
Almost complete–Ruched Frames stitched in half of cover.
Ruched frames completely stitched in.
Ruched frames completely stitched in.

Once, the frames were stitched in within the locker hooked frames, a few of the stitches needed a little help with tiny drops of glue to hold them in place–especially for the larger design elements. Now all I had to do is finish the outside frame by locker hooking with the Mulberry Wine strips and then stitching the sides together with the same color. The idea was to create an envelope design.

The finished iPad cover with Egyptian figs motif.

Voila! The finished iPad cover with Egyptian figs motif in a locker hooked and ruched frames design for padded protection.

I finished the top edges by wrapping with a little padding–using a piece of heavy yarn to wrap with stitches along the opening edges on top. I added suede strips for a closure with ties. This was entirely optional but it added to the ancient feel of the design. My iPad now has a cozy, colorful and protective cover that travels well.