DIY Your Own Apple Pocket (for Way Less Than $125!)
Introducing: The iPhone Pocket
Apple recently announced their newest iPhone accessory which became available in select stores this last November. It’s called the iPhone Pocket and it’s a thin cloth bag for carrying your iPhone. The press release says that this was a collab with Miyake Design Studio, a fashion label known for technology-inspired design. The Pocket is made of ribbed knit cloth to hold any size iPhone (a departure from the usual need to repurchase all your iPhone accessories every time you upgrade to fit the new phone’s size). It sells for $124.99 USD for the short version or $223.99 USD for the long version.
Screenshot of the Apple Store showing the CAD price
One of the things that stood out to me in the press release was this phrase: “Born from the idea of creating an extra pocket…” It immediately made me think of one of these:
Women are well-accustomed to not being able to fit their phone in their pants pocket, which is one of the reasons these embroidered pockets have come back into style, at lease in the crafting community. It will be interesting to see if the iPhone Pocket fills a need for men in the same way. It definitely feels like yet another product designed to fix a pain point caused by women’s clothing design.
An 18th century tie-on pocket. These were popular at a time when women’s dresses didn’t have pockets and modern purses had yet to be invented
The DIY Version
I’ve seen a few crafters online already making their own versions of this phone bag in knit and crochet. Since I’m really into pin loom weaving at the moment I thought I’d give weaving a try. It won’t have the stretch created by the ribbing in the Apple version, but a 4” width should be enough for any iPhone.
Materials
I ball of worsted weight acrylic yarn
1 pin loom with 6” upholstery needle
pic comb or something to use as a beater
tapestry needle
I started off by weaving 10 pin loom squares: 4 for the body where the iPhone goes, and 6 for the strap. 9 of them I wove with 4 and a half wraps around the loom and 1 with a full 5 wraps so I can use the extra length from the wraps to sew the squares together.
I sewed the first 2 squares together along 3 sides and the next 2 squares along just the opposite sides, then sewed them together.
4 pin loom squares sewn together to make a pocket
For the straps, I sewed the squares starting from the middle of the front square to the middle of the back square on both sides. This creates a strap similar to the one in the original product.
Squares sewn on and connected at the top
To connect the squares at the top, you can just sew the edges together, or you can sew 2” down the sides to really make it mimic the original design.
I Can’t Believe it’s Not an iPhone Pocket!
Now, for some product testing. How does it stand up to the design claims made by the press release?
The press release says that the stretchy ribbed fabric allows it to fit any iPhone. This woven fabric doesn’t have the stretch of knit ribbing, but at 4” it’s already wide enough to fit any iPhone.
It says that users can see their screen through the fabric. This isn’t the case with this woven version, but that’s not really something I care about or need.
The press release boasts 3 ways that the Pocket can be used: handheld, tied around a bag, and carried over the shoulder. All three of these work with this pin loom version.
Pass or Fail?
I’d say, overall, this woven iPhone pocket is successful. It holds my iPhone, I can carry it around or tied to my purse, and it cost way less than $123. Other than the cosmetic difference of it being woven instead of knit fabric, as a dupe, I’d say this is definitely a pass.
Would you make your own iPhone Pocket? If so, which technique would you use: knitting, crochet, or weaving? Or do you think that the iPhone Pocket is a pointless accessory made to be a cash cow but will ultimately die a quick death in the public consciousness? Let me know in the comments.
If you’d like to follow along and make your own iPhone pocket, you can get a pin loom here.