A while ago, I knitted a smartphone case for my Mum, but she was looking for a second case, and requested a fabric one. I couldn’t find any tutorials that worked for her specific phone, so I decided to make it up myself, and share this Smartphone Case Tutorial with you!

This case will fit a Nokia Lumia 530 with a little wiggle room, and also a Samsung Galaxy S2 (very snugly). If you have a different sized phone, you could always add a little onto the width of the pieces first – it’s better for it to be slightly too big to start with, as you can always take it in before you finish!

 

Materials

10″ x 10″ outer fabric (I used a remnant from a fat quarter) 10″ x 10″x lining fabric (I picked a firmer fabric to give it some body) 10″ x 10″ wadding (you could use batting, but I used the lightest-weight wadding my local craft shop sold) 1 x hair elastic 1 x button

Cut out the fabric

1. From the lining fabric, cut: one rectangle 4 ½” wide and 6 ½” high, and one rectangle 4 ½” wide and 8 ½” high.
2. Cut the same from the outer fabric.
3. Cut two 4 ½” x 6 ½”  rectangles from the wadding.

Quilting the wadding

If you skip this step, nothing will stop the wadding from moving around when you turn the case the right way round later, so this step is important!

1. With the small lining rectangle WS up, stitch the wadding to the top edge with a 3/8″ seam.
2. I stitched straight down the centre, and made a wonky diamond, but let your imagination run wild to quilt the wadding to the lining! You won’t see much of it when the case is finished, but you’ll know it’s there.
   
3. Stitch around the remaining three edges with  a ¼” seam. This will hold the wadding in place on the edges, but the seams won’t be visible on the finished case.

Set the small rectangle to one side, and do the same with the large rectangle, except that this time we need to line the wadding up at the base of the rectangle, leaving the top section unwadded. This will be the top flap, and if it’s padded it makes the case a little too bulky to put into a coat pocket!

With both lining rectangles finished, it should be looking something like this:

The front smartphone case section

1. Taking the small lining rectangle, and the matching outer rectangle, place them RS together. Stitch across the top edge with a ¼” seam allowance.
2. Turn to RS, and top stitch over that seam with a 1/8″ seam allowance.
3. This is now the front section.

Putting it all together

This is where it starts to sound really complex, but you’re almost at the finish line!

1. Take the large lining rectangle, and place it RS up. This will be the back lining for the case.
2. Place the hair elastic at the top of this rectangle, with the neat loop pointing towards the bulk of the fabric. Pin or tack (or both – hair elastics can be a nightmare to keep in one place before stitching!).
   

   The metal piece will be inside the seams, and can be cut off before turning.

3. On top of this, place the front piece, with the front lining face down, so the front cover is RS up.
4. Finally, place the back cover on the top, WS up.
5. Pin and tack! This is really important, as it’s so easy for something to move as you stitch!
6. Mark a gap to be able to turn the case the right way out. I left a gap on the corner which wasn’t ideal, but it was easier than leaving a gap where there’s more than 2 layers!
7. Sew carefully around the case, with a ½” seam allowance, backstitching at both sides of the gap to reinforce the seam. When stitching over the hair elastic, I ran a few stitches backwards, then came forwards again just to ensure it’s held firmly.
8. Trim the seam allowances to make it less bulky when turned, and clip the corners being careful to not cut into the stitches. Cut the metal part off the hair elastic.
9. Carefully turn the case the right way around – this will seem quite fiddly, but stick with it.
10. Before doing anything else, check the phone fits comfortably in the case. If the case seems a little large, turn it back the wrong way around, and sew another seam down either side, just a little further from the edge than the first ones, to make it a little narrower. Then turn back the right way and check again.
11. Assuming the phone now fits comfortably in the case, carefully fold in the edges of the gap, so they match the seam line on the rest of the flap.
12. Top stitch around the flap, with a 1/8″ seam allowance to close the gap and make the flap look better. I prefer to make the flap corners a diagonal rather than perfectly pointy corners, but you might prefer to make them perfect right angles.
    
13. Put the phone back into the case, and check the required position of the button. Remove the phone (again) and carefully sew the button onto the front of the case. You could of course have machine-stitched the button on earlier, but this way you can ensure a snug fit for the phone, rather than risking it either being a bit loose or the elastic not quite reaching.

And there you have it! One finished smartphone case!

 

I’d love to see the cases you make with this tutorial – simply post links to the pics in the comments 🙂

 

Outer fabric and button from The Makery, lining fabric from Hobbycraft and hair elastic from Wilko. None of these links are affiliate links.

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This tutorial is provided free for everyone to use. Link backs to this tutorial are welcome – please do not copy the tutorial and post it on your own site!

You may sell items you have made from this pattern, but please do not sell the pattern itself!