Most of this year I have been part of a team of girls sewing up a storm for our school fete. One of the things we have made are these handy IPad pillows. I have to admit I am one of those people that likes to retreat to my bed with my IPad to catch up on the TV drama that I have missed due to the TV being taken over by the footy or 'Horrible Histories'. . . . anyway, I love it so I thought I would share as Christmas is just around the corner & these would make great gifts from your scrap pile.
STEP 1. Take a pile of scraps, these were left over 2 1/2" scraps of Amy Butlers Hapi range.
STEP 2. Sew the scraps together to make 2 squares about 10"ish! You could just use plain squares of fabric like we did with the ones we made for the fete but I like the boho scrap option.
STEP 3. Iron the squares onto some lightweight pelon or wadding & add some quilting stitches to make it look pretty! Once the quilting has been done to both sides trim the squares back to 9 1/2".
STEP 4. To make the rest for the IPad cut a piece of fabric @ 8 3/4" x 4 1/2". I made my strip from two pieces of scraps as that's what I had. Cut a piece of iron on pellon or thin wadding to the same size & iron the fabric to the pellon.
STEP 5. Fold the strip in half & sew up the two ends making sure to back stitch at either end. Trim away the corner & turn right sides facing out.
STEP 6. Now the next bit is the only bit that might make your face crumple! Once the strip is turned with the right sides of the fabric facing out, Sew a line 1" from the fold leaving a 1 1/2" gap at one end, this makes the tube to add the rice/lentils so the IPad doesn't fall off the cushion. If you have a kitchen funnel grab it as it makes this part easier as well as a pencil. Pop the funnel into the gap & pour in some rice or lentils. Work the rice down into the tube until you have filled the tube. It is a bit fiddly as the rice doesn't like sliding along the pellon but persevere!
Using the zipper foot on your machine sew the gap closed to keep the rice in place.
STEP 7. Place the finished rest strip on top of one 9 1/2" square lining up the raw edges. Place the remaining 9 1/2" square on top so that the right sides are facing. Pin together & sew along the sides & the bottom. Take care to centre the rest strip so that you do not sew it into the sides as that will then lead to lots of unpicking!
STEP 8. Open out the top edge that you didn't sew & line up the seams. Pin in place with the seams laying in opposite directions. (It should be looking like a pyramid at this point). Sew together leaving a gap of about 3" somewhere along the edge but not over the seam or at one end. (See my picture to see what I mean)
STEP 9. Trim the corners back & turn the pillow through the gap making sure to push out the corners neatly. Now it is time to finish the pillow. I stuffed mine with Bean bag beans which work really well as the Ipad nests into it nicely but I do appreciate that you can't buy small amounts of these so you might be making quite a few to get through all the beans! You could try using ordinary hobby fill, I'm pretty sure this would work too. Once it is nicely full but not so full it is tight, hand stitch the gap closed with a ladder or whip stitch.
That's it, you are all done. Now it's time to sit back with a cuppa, your IPad & pillow and catch up with this weeks episode of Midsomer Murders!
Happy stitching
x Claire
