Device Sleeve Pattern Maker
A sleeve only works if it matches the thing in it. Type the width, height and thickness of your phone, tablet, laptop or glasses, add the ease you want, and the sleeve is drawn around it with room for the padding.
Pick the padding (none, fusible fleece, batting or foam), then a zip, a flap with a fastener, or an open top, and square or rounded corners.
Make it yours: Measure your own device (with its case on), then adjust the ease, the padding and the closure.
Make this pattern in your size →What you can change
Size
- Device width: 5–42 cm (2–16½″). The short side of a phone or tablet, the long side of a laptop, as it will sit in the sleeve.
- Device height: 8–33 cm (3⅛–13″). The side that slides in first, top to bottom.
- Device thickness: 0.3–4 cm (⅛–1⅝″). Measure it with the case on, if you use one.
Sizes are typed in centimetres, millimetres or inches. The starting size is Device width 6.5 cm (2½″), Device height 16 cm (6¼″), Device thickness 3 cm (1⅛″).
Options
- Padding: none, fusible fleece, batting or foam
- Closure: zip, flap or open top
- Fastener: magnetic snap, sew-on snap, button or hook-and-loop
- Bottom corners: square or rounded
- Switches: Zip tabs, Lined
- Measurements and counts: Ease, Padding thickness, Flap depth, Button size, Zip tape width, Sew the zip on at, Corner radius
Starting points
These are sizes and settings to begin from, and every one stays fully editable. Type your own measurements, or start from the nearest one.
| Starting point | Finished size, cm | Same starting point in round inches |
|---|---|---|
| Glasses case | for 6.5 × 16 cm × 3 cm · 10.7 × 18.5 cm, 4.5 cm flap | for 2½ × 6½″ × 1¼″ · ≈4¼ × ≈7½″, 1¾″ flap |
| Phone | for 7.2 × 15 cm × 0.9 cm · 9.3 × 16.45 cm, 4.5 cm flap | for 3 × 6″ × ⅜″ · ≈3⅞ × ≈6⅝″, 1¾″ flap |
| E-reader | for 11.5 × 16 cm × 0.8 cm · 13.9 × 17.6 cm | for 4½ × 6¼″ × ≈⅜″ · ≈5½ × 6⅞″ |
| Small tablet · 8 in | for 13.5 × 20 cm × 0.8 cm · 16.1 × 21.8 cm, 6.5 cm flap | for 5¼ × 8″ × ≈⅜″ · 6¼ × ≈8¾″, 2½″ flap |
| Tablet · 11 in | for 17.5 × 25 cm × 0.7 cm · 20 × 26.75 cm | for 7 × 10″ × ≈⅜″ · 8 × ≈10¾″ |
| Laptop · 13 in | for 30 × 21.5 cm × 1.6 cm · 33.8 × 24 cm | for 12 × 8½″ × ⅝″ · ≈13½ × ≈9½″ |
| Laptop · 15 in | for 35.5 × 24.5 cm × 1.8 cm · 39.5 × 27.1 cm | for 14 × 9¾″ × ¾″ · ≈15⅝ × ≈10⅞″ |
Cutting list
At the starting size (Device width 6.5 cm (2½″), Device height 16 cm (6¼″), Device thickness 3 cm (1⅛″)) the pattern has these pieces. Fabric sizes include seam allowance, interfacing is cut to the stitching line, and pieces cut on the fold are shown opened out. Each size is the width and height of the piece as cut.
| Piece | Fabric | Cut | Size to cut | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Main fabric | 1 | up to 12.7 × 20.5 cm (up to 5 × ≈8⅛″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Front | Lining | 1 | up to 12.7 × 20.5 cm (up to 5 × ≈8⅛″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Front | padding: fusible fleece | 1 | up to 10.7 × 18.5 cm (up to ≈4¼ × ≈7¼″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Back and flap | Main fabric | 1 | up to 12.7 × 25 cm (up to 5 × ≈9⅞″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Back and flap | Lining | 1 | up to 12.7 × 25 cm (up to 5 × ≈9⅞″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
| Back and flap | padding: fusible fleece | 1 | up to 10.7 × 23 cm (up to ≈4¼ × ≈9″) | Shaped: cut from the printed piece |
You will also need: Padding; Hook-and-loop; Thread. The cover page and materials list give the amounts for your size.
The maker’s fabric estimate at this size: Main fabric about 0.2 m of 112 cm fabric; Lining about 0.2 m of 112 cm fabric.
How it goes together
These are the maker’s own instructions at the starting size. They change with the options you pick, and the PDF carries the full set with the cover, cutting list and materials list.
- Check before you cut: the inside will be 10.3 cm wide by 18.3 cm deep. That is the device (6.5 × 16 cm, 3 cm thick) plus 3 cm for going round its thickness, plus 0.8 cm ease. The stitched size is bigger by 0.2 cm each side for the padding.
- Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of each outer piece. It is cut to the stitching line, so the seam allowance stays clear and the seams stay flat.
- Sew the hook-and-loop on before assembling: the soft side to the OUTER front on its line, the hook side to the back-and-flap LINING on its line. Stitch round the edge of each strip and across the ends.
- Put the outer front and the outer back-and-flap right sides together, bottom edges level. Sew the sides and bottom at 1 cm, from the front’s top corners down and round. The part of the back above the front is the flap; leave it free.
- Do the same with the two lining pieces, leaving the gap between the notches in the bottom open.
- Cut small V notches into the seam allowance round the curved corners.
- Turn the outer right side out and leave the lining wrong side out. Slip the outer inside the lining, so they are right sides together, and match the side seams.
- Pin the top edges together all the way round: the front’s top edge, and the flap’s outer and lining together. Sew at 1 cm, starting at one side seam, across the front, then up and round the flap and back down. Pivot with the needle down at each corner. Where the flap meets the side seams, clip into the seam allowance right up to (not through) the stitching.
- Notch the flap curves.
- Turn it right side out through the gap in the lining. Push out the corners, edgestitch the gap closed and tuck the lining inside.
- Press, then topstitch round the flap and across the front’s top edge to keep the lining from rolling out.
Fabric suggestions
Outer: Canvas, denim, quilting cotton with padding, waxed cotton, ripstop or neoprene.
Lining: Something soft that will not scratch the screen: flannel, fleece, microfibre or brushed cotton.
Interfacing, padding or other layers: A padding layer between outer and lining: fusible fleece for light protection, batting for a soft sleeve, closed-cell foam for a laptop.
How each fabric family suits it
- Stable woven: great choice. Holds its size round the padding, so the sleeve fits snugly.
- Heavy or stiff: great choice. Tough and protective. With foam as well the seams get thick: trim and clip them, and use a longer stitch.
- Stretchy knit: possible, with care. Neoprene and scuba stretch round the device and give a snug fit: then leave out the ease. Knits need interfacing and give a looser fit over time.
- Slippery or fine: works well. Fine with firm interfacing, but the device can slide out of a slippery open top. Prefer a flap or zip.
The maker’s advice adjusts to the fabric family you pick in the Fabric tab.
Printing it
At the starting size the printed pieces take 2 A4 pages, taped together using the page labels, alignment marks and page map. For a print shop, choose a sheet from A0 to a 36″ roll: the pieces are packed onto as few sheets as they will fit on, and if one is too big for the sheet the maker says so. How printing, tiling and the test square work.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the size right?
Measure the device at its widest, tallest and thickest points, with any case it lives in. The sleeve adds the ease you choose and the thickness of the padding, so a thicker layer makes a slightly bigger sleeve.
Which devices are built in as starting points?
A glasses case, a phone, an e-reader, an 8 and an 11 inch tablet, and 13 and 15 inch laptops. They are sizes to start from; check them against your own device.
What size can I make?
The device sleeve pattern takes device width from 5–42 cm (2–16½″); device height from 8–33 cm (3⅛–13″); device thickness from 0.3–4 cm (⅛–1⅝″). It starts at Device width 6.5 cm (2½″), Device height 16 cm (6¼″), Device thickness 3 cm (1⅛″), and you can work in centimetres, millimetres or inches. There are 7 starting points to begin from (Glasses case, Phone, E-reader, Small tablet · 8 in, Tablet · 11 in, Laptop · 13 in, Laptop · 15 in). Every starting point stays fully editable.
Which fabric suits the device sleeve pattern?
Canvas, denim, quilting cotton with padding, waxed cotton, ripstop or neoprene. In the maker’s fabric advice, stable woven and heavy or stiff are a great choice; slippery or fine works well; stretchy knit is possible with care.