DIY Phone Case | How to Make a New Phone Cover Using Your Old One As a Template

For a while now I've been walking around with a phone case that's definitely seen better days...the side of the plastic phone holder has fallen off, and the outer layer of the fabric cover has disintegrated. I searched for a new case but found hardly anything on offer for an old iPhone SE, so I asked the question I always ask in these situations; "why not make my own?"

I liked my Harris tweed one with the flip front, so I wanted to replicate exactly that, using the old case for the templates and as the donor for anything I can use again - like the magnets.

I'm really pleased with the result; it looks and works just like my old case, but it has that 'homemade' charm :D

I hope you like this Instructable!

1. Phone protection case with a flat back
2. Your old phone case
3. Ruler
4. Scissors
5. Craft knife
6. Seam Ripper
7. A4 paper
8. Sewing Pins & Clips
9. Paper & pen/pencil
10. Fabric(s) for the cover: I used a herringbone Harris tweed I bought off Ebay, plus some 'rainbow' cork fabric. The choice of materials for this is up to you, but I would recommend that you don't choose something thicker than the tweed I've used, or thin enough that glue will go straight through and stain it.
11. Sewing machine & matching thread: I used a black thread. Note that you can hand sew this instead if you wish, and I think I would have done a neater job around the outside if I had (!) but it will take longer.
12. Rotary cutter (optional) & cutting mat
13. Strong, clear glue: I used UHU all-purpose adhesive
14. Thin card: you want this to be fairly stiff
15. Kraft-tex or other sewable stiffening material (optional): I used Kraft-tex (which is a fabric with the look of card or paper) inside the cover, so that I could later sew through it without an issue. I was worried using stiff thin card instead would cause a problem for my sewing machine. Interfacing would likely be the best alternative if you can't find Kraft-tex.
16. Fabric for the edging: I used thin (0.55mm) brown leather I bought on Ebay. Probably the best choice would be narrow bias binding.

Use a seam ripper and scissors to take apart your phone case, making sure to keep the pieces whole if you need to use them as templates later.

The entire outside of my phone case was not in great shape, so I decided to replace all of the fabrics. I could have kept the card pieces inside, but decided not to since they were easy enough to replace. I did keep the magnets (one in the strap, one in the body of the case), and the metal D-ring.

What you save from your old phone case depends what it in good condition. You can save anything you can remove intact, such as the phone holder and the straps.

Inside my case were 2 thin card inserts a bit smaller than the case, and to re-make these you simply draw around them onto thin, stiff card, then cut these pieces out. Use a craft knife to remove smaller details like the hole for the magnet.

Also, on the inside of both the front and back fabric pieces there were attached layers that were made from a thinner material, and these were glued onto the fabric. I assume these are to do the same job as interfacing and add structure to the fabric.

You can cut pieces of (heavy) interfacing the same size as these 4 pieces, but I chose to use Kraft-tex instead (which is a thin fabric that looks like card/paper). Whatever you use, you need to be able to sew through it.

I didn't detach the interfacing pieces from the original cover; I just used the entire cover as a guide to cut the new interfacing/Kraft-tex pieces out, then trimmed them down to fit correctly.

So you'll then have 2 card inserts, plus 4 pieces of interfacing to attach to the inside of the front and back covers.

You'll also need to replace the interfacing/card inside the strap. I'm using a tweed fabric for the cover, so I didn't think I'd need support for the entire strap since it will be quite thick anyway - instead, I just added a small piece of support around where the magnet will go.

Draw around your original outer cover onto a piece of paper, adding 1 cm of seam allowance around the outside edge as you do so. Cut this out, then use it as a template to cut out the 2 pieces of fabric you'll need for the new cover (the inside and the outside).

Then assemble the pieces as they were in your original case. For mine, instructions are as follows:

Attach the interfacing pieces (in my case, Kraft-tex pieces) to the wrong side of the new outer cover. I used UHU all-purpose adhesive, but if you're using iron-on interfacing you'll obviously use your iron instead :)

Place the pieces 1 cm from the edges, and check that the distance between the interfacing pieces (the gap in the middle) is the same width as in your original phone case.

Then glue the magnet into the circular gap you've left, and glue the card inserts on top - making sure they line up correctly. Next, glue the other Kraft-Tex pieces on top, making sure you line them up with those beneath, and then attach the new inner fabric cover (right-side up) on top of that. (Or, if you're not using Kraft-tex, add interfacing first to the new inner fabric cover before glueing this all down on top of the card inserts.)

Note that I only had a partial covering for the inside of the case (rather than cutting out 2 tweed pieces the same size). This is just my personal choice, as I decided I wanted to attach a different material later to the inside-left side of my case, instead of having the tweed. This is completely optional.

Note 2: Only add glue to the card/Kraft-tex areas, not onto the edges of the fabric. You want to leave the seam allowance around the outside unglued. Also, don't add glue to the gap in the centre, between the card pieces.

You should now have a fabric sandwich with a few layers of interfacing/card inside, plus the closure magnet. Leave books on top of this sandwich whilst the glue dries.

(Note that I originally intended to make 2 straps - one to keep the case closed, and the other to go at the top like on my original cover. However, you'll see later that I abandoned the strap at the top as it just turned out way too chunky since I used thick material. So I'll only mention the central strap from now on, and if you want to make the other strap it's made in basically the same way.)

Cut out a template for the central strap by drawing around the original onto paper. Cut this shape out and use it to cut out 2 mirror-image pieces from your new cover fabric - but make sure you add 0.5cm of seam allowance around the outside edge too.

Place these 2 fabric pieces right-sides together, pin them in place, attach the Kraft-tex/interfacing section on top (0.5cm away from the edges), and finally glue the magnet into the gap.

Leave the glue to dry.

Sew most of the way around the curved edge of the strap, as shown.

Use a straight stitch and backstitch at the beginning and end. I used a black thread so you can see it, but I would recommend using a colour that blends in a bit better.

Turn the strap right-sides out.

Fold the open edge inwards (by approx. 0.5cm), press with an iron if it makes it easier, then topstitch around all of the edge except for the short straight edge.

Put the strap onto the outside of your new case so that the magnets hold together. This will let you know where (and which way around) you need to attach your strap.

Take your case and fold the outside edges inwards evenly all the way around, use sewing clips or pins to keep the edges in place, then sew with a straight stitch around the edge. Again, backstitch at the beginning and end.

If your strap is thinner than mine, you could maybe incorporate it into the edge of the case and sew it in place during this step if you wish. Mine was too chunky to enclose in the 'fabric sandwich' though - so instead, I just pinned the strap into position on the inside, as shown.

I then zig-zag stitched all around the outside edge to better secure it, and also to flatten the edge to make the next step easier. Whilst sewing this, I attached the strap aswell.

You'll also see that instead of the tweed strap at the top, I attached a short strip of cork fabric, which I had fed through the D-ring and folded over. I attached this at the same time as the other strap.

I used very thin soft leather for the outer edge, but narrow bias binding could also work.

One error I made was to not use the rotary cutter & ruler to straighten the edges of the cover first, so I would recommend you do that now.

Then use a ruler and rotary cutter to cut strips of leather to go around the outside edge. My strips were 1.5cm wide.

Attach the strips with clips, and overlap them slightly when adding a new strip. Don't use sewing pins with leather as they will leave holes.

Topstitch the leather in place with a straight stitch, remembering to backstitch at the beginning and end. Go slowly around the corners and try to stretch the leather a little around the corners to keep it as smooth as you can. Note that you don't want to sew too close to the edge of the leather as it will then curl up and look messy.

To help manipulate the leather as I sewed, I used a flat, thin piece of plastic (a credit card would do) to help push the leather under the edge (if it should start to come out from underneath).

The finishing steps now!

Firstly, I attached (with glue) a piece of cork fabric where I'd previously left a space on the inside of the cover. As I said, this is optional and I just wanted to use it because it's pretty!

A vital step is to cut out the gap for the camera lens. I used small scissors to do this, then smeared some clear glue around the inside edge to hold the edges together and prevent fraying.

Glue in your protective case, making sure the cover shuts as it should and everything lines up.

My magnet was not working well enough to keep the cover closed, so I also had to cut a circle of fabric away just above the magnet to expose it. I put clear glue on top to help keep it in place.

And finally I attached the Harris Tweed label with glue, but not before sewing along each side of it to make it look like I'd sewn it on instead :)

That's it, your phone case is finished!

I really enjoyed this project and love the result. I got the case I wanted in the end :D

I hope you enjoyed this DIY.