Hands-free book pillow

My mom loves to read at the breakfast table or when she's knitting. Newspapers are great for these times, but what about that novel you can't put down? That's where my book pillow comes in! This pillow allows you to read comfortably and hands free in almost any position and is great for people who want to do something with their hands while reading.

This can be made by hand or machine, and can easily be altered for a hardback or paperback reader.

Step 1: Materials

You will need:

About a yard of fabric. Really lightweight fabrics don't really work for this. I recommend medium to heavy cotton or a light canvas. You can use something like suede, but it makes the gathering step harder, and makes it necessary to use a machine.

Needle and thread (make sure your thread is strong)

Measuring tape

Chalk, or something to mark the fabric with

About two bags of pillow stuffing (not pillow forms, don't confuse the two)

Pins

Optional bookmark or large clip, like the ones used for office supplies

Comments

[bornsewing]

Wonderful, cannot wait to have a go. Just what I need. Thank you.

[-Viola-]

Wonderful!
I made one as a Christmas gift. It was very very very appreciated.
Thank you for the instructable!

[TheHobbit81]

Too COOL!!

My wife is going back to UNI this year to do a nursing course, should I make mine bigger to accommodated her large medical text books?

I'm going to up-cycle some old clothes to make mine.

[jacvoyt]

This looks great, now I'm about to build one with a few changes including adding a book light to the top and using a thin wires or plastic straps to hold the book and pages in place. The only thing, I'm kind of worried about is the level of the book ledge. Would it make sense to use a large pillow and adding a ledge somewhere near the center instead of the bottom in order to read at a more comfortable level (ie when your knees are up supporting the pillow). Also, can somebody who has built this pillow, possibly the poster, post a picture of what this looks like in use, I mean with a person using it. Either way, great post, I'm really going to enjoy having one.

[Polyquats]

Great pattern Elizabeth. My sister requested one for her birthday. I made it using two fat quarters of Japanese quilting fabric, backed with pellon and lightly quilted. I used felt for the base. I attached and stuffed the pyramid before stuffing the tubes, as this meant I could attach it comfortably on the machine. Oh, and I filled it with polystyrene beads. It molds nicely to the shape of the book.

[DebH57]

Congratulations Elizabeth!

[SmiLynnLady]

Sounds great! Now ... if someone would only invent one that would keep my book dry when I read as I soak in the tub ....

[artquilter]

How about stuffing it with plastic grocery bags instead of pillow stuffing?

[Shamora1288]

That could work, but you have to make sure to stuff it really full. If you do one this way let me know! I'd love to hear about the results.

[gia]

I so have to make (at least) one of those :) Awesome, I had seen a similar one for sale somewhere, readymade and way too design priced and too ready for my taste.

[lebowski]

Kindles solve this problem quite well :)

[laughingsister]

Unfortunately, a Kindle costs a wee bit more than this book pillow, and is not yet a make-it-yourself project. Or is it ??? Got an Instructable for one ?? :-)

[lebowski]

I wish I did.

[PKM]

I was going to make a hands-free book reading device (after seeing a piece of moulded plastic not unlike a coat hanger on sale in Borders for about $4 to do the same job), but yours is way better than mine was going to be.

[QueenElizabeth]

Thanks! Yeah, I like this because it is something you can put on your lap and doesn't rely on just the book to stand up.