A nap is about as refreshing as a freshly brewed cup of coffee in the morning. When stressed, sleepy or tired, a small siesta is all you need to energize your body and get you ready for the remainder of the day. Unfortunately, sleeping on hard objects is rather uncomfortable and can give back pains and neck aches. Falling asleep on seats in cars or airplanes does harm to the drooping neck. Also, in noisy environments, it gets even harder to get the nap you deserve, no matter how bad you want to.

The nap-anywhere pillow is a portable small pillow which is dedicated to making sure you have a nice, comfortable object to lay your head on. To ensure it doesn't fall off during sleep, it comes attached to a glove. Its relatively small size means it can be easily placed on the shoulder, where it supports the neck in case one is napping erect during car/plane journeys. That's not all. It includes a small pouch where you slide in your phone or mp3 player to play a calming, soothing lullaby which will easily lull you to sleep, even in the presence of background noise. Alternatively, you could play an audio book which tells a bedtime story.

Step 1: What You Need

--Fluffy wooly or cotton fabric (Wool and cotton are both soft and will be suitable for this scenario. Either fabric could be purchased from a fabric store. In you're like me and love giving old things a new life, then resuse the fabric from an old cloth)

--Silky fabric ( Alternatively, any thin fabric could be used here. Check in a fabric store)

--Thread and needle ( I lack a sewing machine, so I always hand-sew. For those who have a sewing, machine, it can also be used.)

--Soft fluffy sponges, feathers or any other soft material.

--Chalk or marker

--A pair of scissors

--A zipper (As always, I never see the need to buy one when you can get it from disposed attires. If you can't find it, buy one from a fabric shop)

--A glove (It is preferably when this glove matches the color of your fabric. This way, it blends in.)

--Measuring tape or graduated ruler.

Step 2: The Music Pouch: Explaining.

Like I mentioned earlier, the pillow will come with a built in pouch where you can place your phone or mp3 player to play a lullaby. With all the soft cushions that will be surrounding it later in the process, you don't have to worry about device breaking or being uncomfortable under the weight of your head.

This pouch will be situated inside the pillow, surrounded by other materials. Expectedly, the sound from it may sound muffled to the ear. You wouldn't have to worry about not being able to hear the lullaby. Scientifically, there is the theory of bone connectivity. Through this process, sound travels through the skull directly to the ears. At least, that is the theory.

Step 3: The Music Pouch: Measuring and Cutting

In the absence of measuring tape, I used a graduated ruler. This pouch is make to take an mp3 player or a phone. A small phone, to be precise. We will be doing this with the linen fabric. Use the measuring instrument to measure a square 16 × 16 cm in dimension. Trace with the chalk or marker.

Following the traced lines, cut out the square.

Step 4: The Music Pouch: Sewing

Fold the fabric in half. Thread your needle and begin sewing, doing the running stitch. If you don't know, learn how to do the running stitch from here. It's a very easy and fast stitch to do. Sew all around the edges, leaving only one side open.

In this open side, sew the zipper so that the pouch can be opened and closed. Zippers are easier to sew on materials when you unzip them and sew each side on either side of the material. If your zipper is too long, you could choose to either tuck the remaining length into the interior of the pouch or shorten the zipper. I chose the former. To learn how to shorten zippers, check out this instructable.

With the pouch all done, set aside for later.

Step 5: The Pillow: Measuring, Cutting and Sewing

For the exterior of the pillow, we will use the wooly or cotton fabric, depending on the one you chose to use. Measure 30 × 40 cm, trace with chalk and the cut out. Fold the piece into two about the 40cm side.

Sew around the edges. Back stitch was my stitch of choice. Learn how to backstitch here. Just like when making the pouch, leave one side open. You should have a bag-like structure. If the sewn edges are rough or the thread is visible, then turn the fabric from the inside out.

Step 6: Adding Pouch to Pillow.

Remember that you had left one side of the pillow exterior open. Insert the pouch into the pillow interior and sew the edge with the zipper on one side of the opening. There should still be a little hole available.

Step 7: Stuffing

Insert the soft sponges, feathers or whatever soft material you decided to use through the little hole you had earlier allowed. Keep on filling into the pillow until the desired softness is acquired. There should be space left inside. This way, a phone/ player can easily slide in.

After stuffing, sew this last opening close.

Step 8: Adding the Glove

Although the pillow can be used already, we will be adding a glove to it. This way, it can easily be worn and held in place if necessary.

Sew the wrist portion of the glove through the center right or centre left of the pillow. Placing the glove on the pillow, repeatedly insert a threaded sharp needed through both the glove and the pillow, over and over again. Use the back stitch.