Do you spend a lot of time on your mobile phone? I know I do. It seems to always be in the palm of my hand! Now, have you ever heard of a phone pillow??? 🤔
So I’ve been thinking, what if I didn’t have to keep my hands on my phone all the time? What if I could read or listen hands-free? What a relief that would be! 😁
That’s precisely why I wanted to make myself a stand for my phone and my tablet. And now I’ve finished it, I am in love!
Such a cute phone pillow is mega practical: you can use it when you are busy in the kitchen, working at your desk or kicking back on the sofa.
And it is SO simple to sew! Perfect for all levels of sewing experience, even beginners.
Ready to make your own phone and tablet holder? Keep reading for the easy-to-follow tutorial to sew your own phone pillow.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.
I’ve seen a few of theses types of phone and tablet stand sewing tutorials around and decided I wanted to test out my own variation. Like I already said, I’m in love! The fabric, the function, the feel… It works perfectly!
This fabric stand is not only easy but also fast to make. You can create one in less than an hour!
And because they are so quick and easy to sew, and everyone has a phone and/or a tablet these days, you’ll probably find yourself sewing more than one. (Psst! What a great gift they would make too! 😉)
Sewing tutorial: How to make your own phone and tablet holder
This sewing pattern makes the perfect bean bag pillow for your mobile phone, whether vertical or horizontal. It will also hold your table easily in a horizontal position. Standing a tablet vertically in this holder may cause the tablet to lean back quite a bit.
Your finished phone and table pillow will be approximately 15 cm tall, 15 cm wide and 23 cm deep.
The instructions already include a 1 cm seam allowance. No need to add on anything extra!
Throughout this tutorial I will use the terms stand, pillow, beanbag and holder. They’re all the same project. Don’t let the variety of words confuse you! 😉
What you need to sew a phone and tablet pillow
Fabric (woven cotton works well)
Polyester stuffing
Rice (or something of a similar size and weight)
The usual sewing tools: measuring tape or ruler, fabric scissors, tailor’s chalk or fabric marker, pins, iron, thread, sewing machine
Step 01. Prepare the fabric for your phone stand
Tip: Iron your fabric before cutting to ensure correct measurements.
Cut a piece of fabric 25 cm high and 32 cm across.
Fold in half right sides together to form a rectangle now 25 cm high and 16 cm across.
Step 02. Pin and start sewing your phone pillow
Pin together the fabric layers along the bottom raw edge.
Then pin the layers along the long fabric edge together, marking out a 2 cm gap approximately 1 cm from the lower edge. (This will be used to fill part of your phone cushion in a moment!)
Leave the top raw edges open for now.
Using a 1 cm seam allowance, machine stitch along these 2 pinned sides. Don’t forget to leave that 2 cm opening!
Tip: Use a short stitch length when sewing this project. You don’t want any rice grains slipping out of the pillow through long stitches, right?!?
Tip: Cutting across the corners within the seam allowance will help create a crisper corner with less fabric bulk when the pillow is turned out the right way.
Step 03. Sew the top edge of the pillow
Lay the fabric rectangle flat on your workspace with the stitched edges on the right and lower sides of the fabric and the edge with no seam at the top. This top edge will be sewn differently to the other 2 sides.
Fold the fabric rectangle in half lengthways so that the seam on the right side is laying on top of the folded long side. Yes, it will look like your fabric rectangle is doing a twist, but that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be! No need to worry! 😅 (This technique is exactly the same as I used for sewing cornhole bean bags, but larger!)
Align the raw edges of the fabric and pin together EXCEPT for again leaving an opening for filling your phone stand. This time mark an opening approximately 5 cm wide.
Machine sew along this edge, leaving that 5 cm unstitched. I’ve seen other versions of these sorts of tablet and phone stands sew the entire upper edge later after filling, but I like to hide the seams away on the inside now rather than later!
You will now have a folded rectangle piece of fabric. The lower edge is completely stitched closed. The right sides are stitched together except for a 2 cm opening near the lower edge. The upper raw edges are also stitched together except for a 5 cm opening.
Sound right?!? Great!
Step 04. Turn the fabric pillow out
It’s time to turn the fabric right sides out, through the 5 cm opening at the top.
The fabric pouch won’t lay perfectly flat anymore, due to that twisted top edge, but that’s ok. There will be 2 openings in the fabric: 2 cm near the bottom of the long edge and 5 cm along the top edge.
Press the seams flat with an iron.
Step 05. Create a resting space at the base of the phone pillow
3 cm from the bottom edge, stitch a straight line across from the right to the left side of the fabric. The 2 cm opening from Step 2 will be between this row of stitching and the lower edge.
Above this line of stitching, machine sew another row, approximately 5 mm from the first.
Finally, sew a 3rd row of stitching from the right side to the left, again, approximately 5 mm above the 2nd row.
You will now have 3 parallel rows of stitches, approximately 3, 3 ½ and 4 cm from the bottom edge of the fabric pouch.
These lines of stitches have formed a slim flat space for your phone or tablet to stand in. But we’re not finished yet! Your phone cushion needs filling!
Step 06. Create a ledge at the front of the phone stand
Firstly, fill the small section using the 2 cm opening on the side. I used rice, because it can be packed quite firmly and creates a little “wall” to stop a phone or tablet sliding off the front of the cushion! I have seen other versions using lentils or just polyester filling. I did try polyester filling in this section, but I liked the end result more when I used rice.
Tip: Use a funnel to help the rice fall through the opening rather than all over your workspace!
Once you are happy with the amount of filling, sew the opening closed. This can be done by hand or with your sewing machine.
Step 07. Fill the rest of the phone pyramid pillow
Now the larger section of the cushion needs to be filled too.
Start with some more rice (or whatever you choose to use to create some weight inside the cushion). You don’t need to fill the whole section with rice. A few tablespoonfuls works well.
Then finish stuffing this section with your fluffy polyester filling. You need to use enough to make a fairly firm cushion, but not rock hard. Think of it as a comfy pillow for your phone to recline back on! 😂
Tip: Not sure whether you have used enough stuffing? Simply grab your phone or tablet and test out your pillow as you go. Does your device stand too upright in the pillow? Try removing some of the filling. Or does it sink back too far? Add more! Simply keep testing until you are happy with how your devices sit in the stand.
Step 08. Stitch the pillow stand closed
When you think the phone pillow looks not too full or too squishy but just right (remind you of Goldilocks a little?!?), you can stitch the opening closed. Again, it’s up to you whether you want to use your sewing machine or whether you want to stitch by hand.
Tip: If sewing by hand, the best stitch to use is a ladder stitch, AKA invisible stitch to hide the stitches inside the pillow within the seam allowance.
Trim off all those pesky thread tails and you’re done!
Ta daaaa! You now have one pretty and practical mobile phone and tablet holder!
With this nifty little mobile phone and table pillow your phone or tablet can lay back and chill as much as you now can!
How many will you be sewing for your home? Let us know in the comments below!
