I needed a super quick project for something to make my 8" tablet a little more upright on
(a) my work table for reading blogs/tutorials/Fat Quarterly and
(b) my knees when reading in bed.
I have always had a problem reading in bed - I fall asleep pretty quickly. Even when I've just woken up and try to have a little quiet time before getting up for work!
I added a few drops of lavender and rosemary essential oils to the (dry!) couscous - they are both relaxing smells for me, but the rosemary is to aid concentration, in the hope that I can stay awake that little bit longer!
I used to thin my oil paints with oil of spike lavender - I could work for hours with really good focus and concentration and my flat wasn't overcome by turpentine vapours.
No wonder all those Victorian lady painters used it! I have to say that my sitting room smelled delicious all day and I managed to maintain focus long enough to re-organise my sewing space (again!) and do a lot of cleaning and tidying. Win Win.
Anyway … if you'd like to make one it's easy peasy …
I just used a scrap of Echino I had left over from my upside downside journal/tablet cover … (still going strong since April - I think I'll do a tute!)
My scrap was 12" by 12" which was perfect, as my tablet is 8" x 6".
Please note - these measurements will NOT be big enough for an iPad rest … you need to have at least the width and height of what you want to prop up!
If you want to make one for your iPad I suggest you start off with a 14" or 15" square.
It's very easy … fold your square in half and sew up 1 long & 1 short side … Fill with rice or beans or sand or diamonds (about 2/3 - you can pin it and play a bit to get the right degree of squidge … fold top edge in by 1/4" and THEN squeeze the opening to bring your side seam to the middle, pin and stitch across the top.
Voila!
If you have a microwave (and were to use wheat or rice not stale couscous!) I guess this would double as a heat relief pack too! It was wonderful next to my pillow - the lavender was oh so calming, and YES I did manage to read for a whole hour before crashing out!
To get the best angle of 'prop' pick the bag up by two corners and shake contents down … then place on table, lap etc. with emptyish portion closest to you and nestle tablet into place … woot!!
This project took about 20 mins start to finish (including pics) so why not have a go?... if you make one, do post your finished attempts in the Pings Flickr tutorials group!
