Sew a mobile phone strap – with a free pattern

Sew a mobile phone strap – with a free pattern

I was recently at an exciting concert with my best friend. Of course, the smartphone is a fixed component there, if only to be able to create mood lights. Unfortunately, that day I was wearing clothes that didn’t have pockets to put in. How impractical! My girlfriend, on the other hand, had such a casual mobile phone strap that you attached to the smartphone case. It was then clear to me that I would definitely sew a mobile phone strap like this.

When I got home I was already rummaging through my leftovers box. Since I often sew bags, the necessary utensils were quickly found. A few thoughts later and the first prototype was ready. This mobile phone strap can be adjusted in length and is basically suitable for any smartphone, provided you use a protective cover.

What I was most pleased about, however, was that I was able to use fabric leftovers from cotton woven goods. I still have a lot of those and I’m sure you do too. So get to the spare box! A little tip: This ribbon is also great as a small gift, souvenir, giveaway, etc.

Before sewing, however, I recommend that you first read the instructions carefully.

material and accessories

• Carabiner with D-ring 2.5 cm
• Ladder buckle with adjustable bar 2.5 cm
• Ladder buckle with fixed bar 2.5 cm
• thin woven fabric (preferably made of cotton)
• Vlieseline H180 (or similar)
• Vlieseline H200 (or similar)
• Alternative for holder also thin cork material, SnapPap and similar.
• matching sewing thread
• pins/cloth clips
• cloth scissors
• paper scissors
• marker

Download the pattern for free

You can find the template for the mobile phone strap holder here:

Mobile phone strap holder

for download. When printing, make sure that the print settings are set to actual size (100%). Then carefully cut out the template.

cutting and preparation

The following cuts are required:

Outer fabric:

• several strips or one strip with a total length of approx. 130 cm in length and a width of 7 cm
• 1 strip of 15cm x 7cm
• 1 strip of 12 x 7 cm

Fleece line H180:

• several strips or one strip with a total length of approx. 130 cm in length and a width of 5 cm
• 1 strip of 15cm x 5cm

Fleece line H200:

Note: The width of your strap depends on the width of your ladder buckles. For example, if you use buckles that are 3 cm wide, you must adjust the dimensions given accordingly.

If, like me, you use several strips, sew them together with a straight stitch in the first step. In the end, these should result in a total length of 130 cm.

Then iron the seam allowances apart.

Now take the long (130 x 7 cm) and the small strip (15 x 7 cm) and iron the fleece line strips with a width of 5 cm in the middle.

Now fold the side edges of both strips inward exactly at the edge of the fleece line by 1 cm and fix everything with the iron.

Then fold the strips in the middle so that the previously ironed long edges meet exactly and iron everything again.

You also iron the strip of Vlieseline H200 onto the matching strip of outer fabric (12 x 7 cm).

Fold this strip lengthways to make a 6 x 7 cm rectangle.

Now take the template you have cut out for the bracket and place it with the small bridge on the breaking edge. Transfer the shape of the bracket to your fabric.

Then carefully cut out everything. Just hold the open sides. You can also fix everything with pins.

Sew mobile phone strap – holder

Unfold the pattern piece for the bracket. Then neaten both edges of the central bridge with a small zigzag stitch.

Then you fold the pattern piece back in the middle and finish off all the edges all around with a small zigzag stitch.

Your finished holder for the mobile phone strap should now look like this.

sew ribbon

Now take the two parts (130 cm and 15 cm long) for the ribbon and close the open, pre-ironed side with a straight stitch. The easiest way to do this is with the Edgeband foot #10D.

Edging foot #10

Edgeband foot #10 is ideal for topstitching, hemming and embellishing. Thanks to its special guide plate, you can sew precisely straight seams.

Learn more

Then you also topstitch the opposite side with a tight edge.

Then you thread the carabiner and the ladder buckle with a fixed bar into the short part of the strap as shown in the picture. Then close the ends of the band to form a ring.

Now unfold the seam allowances in the middle and fix them with a zigzag stitch.

Now the carabiner and the ladder buckle are fixed as tightly as possible with a straight stitch. To be able to sew as closely as possible, I used Zipper foot #4D.

Zipper foot # 4

Thanks to its narrow middle toe, zipper foot #4 gets very close to the zipper teeth and sews on the zipper neatly.

Learn more

The finished end piece of the ribbon should now look like this.

Then thread the long part of the ribbon through the other end of the ladder buckle, fold the seam allowance inwards and sew everything with a straight stitch. Lock this seam carefully.

Both parts should now look like this on the ladder buckle.

Slide the long part of the strap through the ladder buckle with adjustable bar so that the bar is facing down.

Now pull the end of the strap through the ladder buckle over the fixed bar of the short part of the strap (part with the carabiner).

Then you thread the end around the movable bar of the ladder buckle of the long part of the band. Again, fold the seam allowance inwards and sew everything with a straight stitch.

Now all you have to do is attach the holder to the carabiner of the band and your adjustable mobile phone band is ready.

Sew mobile phone strap – options

Alternatively, you can use cork or SnapPap for the holder. However, make sure that the material is not too thick, otherwise the holder could no longer fit between your smartphone and case. Since I didn’t have a carabiner of the right width for another strap, I cut a so-called “tape reducer” out of cork fabric. The cutting part of this tape reducer is about 7 cm high and 0.5 cm wider than my tape, i.e. 3 cm wide. In the middle I cut a small notch that ended up being 2mm wider than my carabiner’s D-ring.

With a simple straight stitch, the bridge of the bracket is reinforced on both sides.

Then place the two halves of the bracket exactly on top of each other and stitch them together all around with a narrow-edged straight stitch.

The cork holder should now look like this.

When using the tape reducer, the openings of the reduction are reinforced with a straight stitch in the first step.

Then thread the carabiner into the reducer.

Then you take the prepared (see picture) short part of the ribbon and put it exactly in the middle in the reducer.

Then fold the other half of the reducer exactly over it and fix everything well with clamps.

Now stitch everything tight all around.

Finally, the carabiner is fixed with a tight seam.

This is what the finished parts look like for further processing.

Sew mobile phone strap – application

To attach the holder for the mobile phone strap, detach the protective cover from the smartphone and insert the bracket of the holder through the opening for the charging cable.

Put the protective cover back on your smartphone, so the holder is fixed. Now you thread the carabiner of the band through the bridge of the holder and you’re done.

I am really excited! With this cell phone strap, I no longer have to worry about whether my summer clothes have pockets or not.

And since my band is long enough and adjustable, I can also wear it cross-over. Just perfect!