sewing a smartphone case - ideas?

Looking for some really good ideas for a cell phone case or pocket sewing pattern that will slip on a belt.  Either a pattern that exists, one that we wish existed, or inspiration from commercial smartphone covers.  

No, I haven't joined the 21th Century and bought a smartphone.  But I was chatting with a family member and they were lamenting there aren't any good cell phone belt thingies these days.  Not like in the good old days of flip phones... anyway.

If I can find an idea that works, I might make it.  

Help me brainstorm.  I know nothing about smartphones.  What are the qualities one would want in a case like this?

My smart-ish phones always have odd dimensions, so I end up with all sorts of odd cases.

I have one (scrounged) made of neoprene that has been quite effective. It's just a simple vertical case with a velcro flap and belt loop. It's flexible, protective against shock, and water resistant. For raw material, it's not hard to find neoprene wetsuits and booties in thrift stores.

Hubby has been complaining that the belt holder (a respectable brand) for his phone isn't secure enough and the phone comes unclipped at times. He noticed that I'd sewn a side pocket (like a cargo pocket) on my winter farm pants and wondered if I should add them to his farm jeans. Jeans are fairly easy to match the fabric to, and farm pants are exactly "high fashion".

Making a custom bag with a strap that the belt can feed through is certainly doable. I'd want to use fairly heavy fabric.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:My smart-ish phones always have odd dimensions, so I end up with all sorts of odd cases.

I have one (scrounged) made of neoprene that has been quite effective. It's just a simple vertical case with a velcro flap and belt loop. It's flexible, protective against shock, and water resistant. For raw material, it's not hard to find neoprene wetsuits and booties in thrift stores.

How does the velcro hold up?  I stopped using it years ago because it always gets full of fluff and stops sticking.  But maybe modern stuff isn't so bad?  

The industrial grade velcro is pretty tough. My pouch must have pretty good velcro, because it has lasted for years and it was secondhand to start with. Ocassionally I pick out a bit of fluff. There's no stress on it though; even if it failed the phone wouldn't fall out unless you were doing cartwheels.

any pictures of the case(s) you love best?

I'm also not a fan of velcro, for several reasons, but industrial/ military grade does last longer and work better than typical cheaper stuff. I have quite a few tactical items that utilize it. But, one of the several reasons I hate the stuff is that it's so noisy to use - and the better quality stuff isn't any quieter. (Just a heads up, of something to think about)

Jay Angler wrote: He noticed that I'd sewn a side pocket (like a cargo pocket) on my winter farm pants and wondered if I should add them to his farm jeans. Jeans are fairly easy to match the fabric to, and farm pants are exactly "high fashion".

I have a pair of "safari" pants I picked up at a thrift store that has a cell phone pocket below the regular side pockets. It's perfect because it's on the outside of the mid-thigh, not an area where you BEND.  It has a zip under a flap and that keeps dirt and stuff out too when I'm weeding in the corn field.  I have considered adding such a pocket to all my pants.

So many of us don't want velcro.  What are our options?

1. Design it so it doesn't need a closure - think of pillows that have a flap that gives enough for the pillow to go in, but doesn't easily let the pillow fall out. If that isn't clear, I'll try harder!

2. A loop or a button hole and a large button. A loop sticking off a flap takes less space and you can see the button better. I use these on my son's coats all the time.

3. A zipper:  needs to be decent quality as it will get a lot of use. Does do a good job of keeping dirt out.

4. Two strings to tie it - I think it would be annoying.

5. A draw-string type bag with a spring toggle. Might work, but wouldn't look very professional.

6. A magnet closure - Hubbies first cell phone had a flap with a magnet and the body of the case had some metal in it. Worked great, looked neat, but one doesn't want it near charge cards etc!!!

ETA:
7. Ekaterina posted a wonderful example of a medieval bag clasp a couple posts down - leather strap through a leather loop - simple and effective!

What have I missed, everyone???

There are invisible zippers, but they are usually made out of plastic that wears out. Except near oceans, metal zippers can be good, but you would still need a flap over to keep out dust and save the zipper from going off the tracks, perhaps. The noise thing about vel-crow is that a pick-pocket in a crowded place would make noise. I am a townie. Sometimes, I wish it were not so, but it is, and I am 72, so Gaia could zap me with lightening or something, but maybe not. I aspire to be linear also, but it, so far, has not worked out.

I like the drawstring idea. That is what I use for my little grannie phone. The bag is vinyl-ish, very soft, which may indicate some not-so-good chems, but I fold the extra over, and it fits well in one of my steampunk purses. Sigh. I did not properly oil the metal, and an iron-based purse-part, and it has already rusted through, as I live near a beach that I almost never go to. Salt I love, but for some metals, it is not good.

I have stitched myself one from leather. Made the pattern literally from flipping the phone and drawing around it. The first one was using scraps from an old handbag. Because I didn’t know much about leather, I used saddle stitch with waxed cotton. Reused the handbag’s clasp. After about a year the thin leather that I used for the side tore up. I will remake this one but in the meantime used some scrap leather from Hobby Lobby and made another case. This one doesn’t have a clasp. The closure is based on a medieval bag design using a loop and a strap. Very secure. Look up Birka bag. My case is oriented horizontally and is really convenient. Let me see if I can take a picture to show you.

r ranson wrote:Looking for some really good ideas for a cell phone case or pocket sewing pattern that will slip on a belt.  Either a pattern that exists, one that we wish existed, or inspiration from commercial smartphone covers.  

You can find a variety of such on the Internet. I typed in for the leather variety and found these - below.

Leather Phone Case with PDF Pattern
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_aLdBlxVGc

MAKING CUSTOM CELL PHONE CASES PART 1   [FREE VIDEO VIEWING]
https://tandyleather.com/blogs/leathercraft-library/making-custom-cell-phone-cases

Check out some of the other cases on the links above also.

Plus the Tandy leather KIT in the photo.

Leather would be lovely, but I don't have any to work with.

What about breathability.  I understand some of the newer batteries can get pretty hot in a cellphone.

If they had one, it would be worn on the belt while doing all sorts of different jobs, including bending over.  I imagine a big problem would be making sure it has a way to stay in the pouch and not bump around too much, but still be easy to access when it rings or beeps or whatever.

I was thinking like a tie-on pocket, but that might fall out when bending over.

claps.
Is it still a thing we don't want to have magnets near phones and other electronics or have they fixed that problem?

Would a snap or button clasp risk damaging the phone if we bump into something?

if there is a zipper, how do you stop it from scratching the phone going in and out?

r ranson wrote:if there is a zipper, how do you stop it from scratching the phone going in and out?

By design - some coats have a flap on the inside that stops the zipper from catching one's clothing. #2 son had zip-off pants where there was essentially a flap both inside and out that one side of the zipper was inside of (which would be the deep part of the case), and the other half slid inside of it.

r ranson wrote:
claps.
Is it still a thing we don't want to have magnets near phones and other electronics or have they fixed that problem?

Would a snap or button clasp risk damaging the phone if we bump into something?

Yup, and yup. I like the solution in the pic above. The same thing could be done with denim, heavy canvas, etc, and would breathe better. It would also be small enough you could probably use dead jeans.

The Patterns could be used for any material that is sewable or stitchable with maybe a bit of modification for the individuals needs. Using Leather or cloth one could build it with a flap folded over the top with a Snap button installed. IF either of these would be a problem on scratching the screen one could just glue a material panel over the inside of the case to cover the snap.

As I said, check out some of the other cases made in leather (as that material is really durable) and if you need the case to breath punch holes all over the pouch.

IF you are having battery problems of the phone heating up you probably should think about finding a different brand of phone!

Felt! A heavy weight felt would be perfect, I think!

I prefer keeping my phone around my upper arm. It's easy to get to, not in the way, and isn't in a bending spot. I just use an old stock with the foot cut off, folded over on itself, and pulled up my arm. The phone goes in between the two layers, and I can fold the bottom layer of sock down over the top of the phone to keep it clean.

There's an example here
https://www.pennypinchinmom.com/phone-hacks/

I love my 18th-century pockets for my cell phone. (My phone runs my automated insulin delivery system, so I need it near me all the time.) The vertical slit opening stays closed remarkably well and it doesn’t matter what clothing I’m wearing on the lower half of my body—the pocket works. My favorite one is in two layers of flannel, which protects the phone from scratching and has a nice  sturdy feel without being heavy.

Prior to that, I’d made a couple of pockets by cutting a back pocket with a snap from an old pair of jeans. I added a second belt loop to it (one was already on that section) and bound the raw edge. One was bound with bias tape, the other with an inkle-woven tape. Position pocket so the belt loops line up with the belt loops in one’s pants, slip belt through all loops, and voilà. Not as useful for me as I seldom wear a belt, but it’s another option.

I stumbled on this video for a medieval cell phone case.  Though it would fit nicely here.



in other news, I've given up on this project as it turns out they don't like the cellphone and never turn it on or charge it so whatever.  But still, it makes a great brainstorming thread for the next person so keep the ideas coming.  

r ranson wrote:

in other news, I've given up on this project as it turns out they don't like the cellphone and never turn it on or charge it so whatever.

Now if only I could do that with the house phone...

On topic, my cell phone is a little over 3" x 6". This is great for actually being able to use it, but I found that the belt clip didn't work for me. Key farm pants all now have an appropriately sized cargo pocket added to the left thigh just above the knee. However, city clothes are a problem. It doesn't fit into what passes for a purse, which is very old - over 12 years - and showing it's age. It seems weird to design a fanny pack based on the size of my cell phone, but I think that's the direction I'm heading.

Suggestions/ideas welcome. I don't think I'm up to using leather as I lack the tools that would do a decent job of it. I'm leaning towards a "jeans look" at the moment.