This ipad stand project is written by Helen Rhiannon, owner of the All Sewn Up sewing school in Swansea and regular magazine contributor.
This iPad/tablet Stand is a great project to make as they are very easy to make and strong enough to hold your iPad with just wadding inside. You could add sand to weigh it down to hold books even! You can choose to use a range of fabrics for each panel and even personalise the panels to really make it your own unique design. It shouldn’t take you too long to make. Enjoy!
What you need
I used four different fabrics for this project so four fat quarters will be more than enough if you choose to use four fabrics too. Otherwise, 2 fat quarters will be sufficient if you want to use two different fabrics. I did also use denim for the base.
Supplies for the ipad stand project
* Fabric – 2-4 Fat Quarters.
* A small square of a heavy cotton/denim for the square base.
* Wadding to fill the stand.
* Fabric Scissors, Pins, Unpicker
* Matching thread
* Sewing Machine – Straight stitch length 2.5
Project templates: One – Two – Three (click the numbers, that will open the templates as pdfs to be printed) – you may need to print at 200% to get them the right size – check by measuring if the seam allowance is 1cm on the printout.
Stage 1 – Cutting out your iPad stand
Lay fabric out with any patterns facing up. Lay your pattern pieces onto the fabric as instructed. You can lay the four fabrics together and cut all four triangles at once if you are brave enough! For the Base, place the pattern on the fold of the fabric to make one big square.
Stage 2 – Preparing your pieces ready for sewing
Lay out your four triangles as if you are looking at the iPad stand from above to plan which order they will go in. Lay the bottom piece face down (right sides together) onto the left piece, then, lay the top piece face down onto the right piece. (Or go with luck and see which way it turns out!)
Pin the right hand side of each triangular section as shown in the photos.
Sew each seam with a 1cm seam allowance but make sure to stop 1cm short of the bottom as this will help when you pin and sew the base on. (See photos.) Press the seams open.
TIP – If your machine allows it, position the needle on the left. If you then place the edge of the fabric alongside the right edge of the foot, this will sew a 1cm seam allowance. Measure to check!
Stage 3 – Sewing the body of your iPad stand together
Place one half of the iPad stand on the table with the right side facing up at you. Then place the other half face down on top, matching the edges.
Sew up the edge of the iPad stand with a 1cm seam allowance starting from 1cm up from the bottom, pivot exactly on the seam and then continue down the other side of the doorstop and stop 1cm short of the bottom. Press the seams open.
Stage 4 – Making and attaching the shelf section
Fold the shelf section in half lengthways. Pin both side edges together. Sew one complete side with a 1cm seam allowance. On the other side, sew 1cm at the top and 1cm at the bottom but leave a gap in the middle as you will stuff this later with wadding.
Trim the corners for a neat finish. Turn the shelf section through and press flat. Make sure you poke the corners out for a neat finish.
Choose which side of your iPad stand you want to position the shelf section on and pin in place with raw edges together and right sides together. The side edges of the shelf section will sit on the corner seam allowance of the triangle sections.
Stage 5 – Sewing the body to the base
Place your base piece with the right side of the fabric facing up towards you. With your iPad stand turned inside out, match up each corner so that the join in the seam sits exactly on the corner of the base. (See close up photos.)
Make sure you leave a gap of about 5cm in the middle of the back to turn through the iPad stand. Mark the gap with pins. Stitch a 1cm seam allowance all the way around, pivoting exactly on the seam on the corners. Make sure you tuck the shelf section safely out of the way of the seams so not to catch it in!
Trim the corners for a neat finish.
Stage 6 – Stuffing your iPad stand
Turn your iPad stand the right way around through the gap in the back and poke each corner out with your fingertip or scissors.
Stuff the iPad stand with wadding to fill it out until you are happy with the shape. You also need to stuff the shelf section. Poke the stuffing along with scissors. Stuff the shelf section well to make it nice and strong to support the iPad itself.
TIP You can add a stone or a bag of sand to weigh the iPad stand down for heavier items such as a book. I would reinforce the base piece with fusing if you do this to keep the shape.
Stage 7 – Finishing your iPad stand
Hand sew the gap up on the back and the small gap on the shelf section and voila, one very useful iPad stand! You could add buttons or printed trims to make it even more unique.
Please let me know how you get on making your own and if you have any questions, then please just get in touch!
Do share pictures on my facebook fanpage as I love to see what everyone makes.
Thanks! Helen @AllSewnUp
Helen has lots of other fab sewing projects suitable for beginners on our free projects page. Just click the beginners tag at the top of the page to find them.
