Sew a remote control organizer for your living room or bedroom and keep all of your essential items handy and organized. Use my free sewing pattern for a Couch Caddy (or couch scarf with pockets) that can drape over the arm of a couch or recliner or be placed between the bed and boxspring to provide storage and keep your remote controls, glasses, phone, favorite magazine, and more from getting lost.
This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The blog post below contains everything you will need to make the Couch Caddy Remote Control Organizer and it is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The formatted-for-printing PDF download for $2 is totally optional.
This easy to sew bedroom or living room accessory contains one large padded 8’’ x 13 1/2’’ pocket plus a mesh pocket in front that is divided into 3 compartments, each approximately 6’’ x 4 1/2’’.
If you are wondering how to use the Couch Caddy, I grabbed this helpful image from a similar item on Amazon.
The opposite end of the Couch Caddy is long enough to tuck in between the arm of your couch or chair and the cushion. Or you can use it in the bedroom by placing the long end under the mattress.
The underside of the organizer has non-slip gripper fabric to further prevent slipping. I used foam stabilizer for the quilted portions of my caddy, but you could use fusible fleece or quilt batting instead for a less sturdy finish.
The top edge of the mesh pocket is bound with fold over elastic (FOE). This is a great way to make a slightly stretchy mesh pocket that you can easily see inside!
Some of you may not have tried this technique yet, so I made a short video showing how to sew the FOE to the top edge of the mesh pocket. It should start playing automatically in the video player on this page, but if it does not, you can find it on YouTube here.
Are you ready to sew the Couch Caddy? Let’s get started!
You will need:
1/2 yard of cotton fabric for the main piece
1/4 yard of cotton fabric for the padded pocket (a FQ works fine!)
1/4 yard of cotton fabric for the binding
1/2 yard flexible foam stabilizer (such as ByAnnie Soft and Stable)
Slightly stretchy mesh fabric (such as mesh fabric from ByAnnie)
14’’ of 20mm wide fold over elastic (FOE)
Non-slip gripper fabric (such as gripper fabric from Joanns)
Fabric marking pen or pencil
Wonderclips
Cutting
From the main fabric, cut:
1 rectangle 15’’ x 44’’ (or the width of your fabric)
From the fabric for your padded pocket, cut:
2 rectangles 9 1/2’’ x 15’’
From the flexible foam stabilizer, cut:
1 rectangle 15’’ x 44’’ (or the same size as the main fabric piece above)
1 rectangle 9 1/2’’ x 15’’
From the mesh fabric, cut:
1 rectangle 6’’ x 14’’
For the binding, cut:
1 strip 2 1/4’’ x 14’’
3 strips 2 1/4’’ x width of fabric (to join together to make a 2 1/4’’ x 120’’ strip - joining instructions are below)
Wait until later to cut the non-slip gripper fabric.
Quilt the Fabric Pieces to Foam Stabilizer
I have a video tutorial about this technique! Note that for our main piece here, we will only baste and quilt fabric to one side of the stabilizer.
1. Smooth the 14’’ x 44’’ (or WOF) rectangle of fabric on top of the piece of foam stabilizer that is the same size with the wrong side of the fabric against the stabilizer
2. Quilt the fabric to the stabilizer using your favorite quilting technique. I decided to keep it simple by quilting straight lines in a cross hatch pattern about 2 1/2’’ apart. I marked the first line in each direction, and then used the guide bar for my walking foot to help me keep the lines an even distance apart.
3. Use the same basting and quilting technique that you used on the main fabric piece above.
However, start by basting fabric to both sides of the stabilizer as seen in the video tutorial.
4. Trim the main piece to 14’’ wide. Trim the short ends to make them even, while leaving this piece as long as you can. Trim the pocket piece to 8 1/2’’ tall x 14’’ wide.
5. Baste around the pieces one more time 1/8’’ from the edge to seal the raw edges together.
Sew the Pocket
1. Use a fabric marking pen or pencil to draw 2 vertical lines on the front side of the pocket piece.
Each line should be 4 3/4’’ away from a side edge. Make sure that these lines are dark enough to see through the mesh pocket a little later.
2. Wrap the fold over elastic around the top edge of the 6’’ x 14’’ mesh fabric piece and sew it in place 1/8’’ from the edge of the elastic.
I made a short video showing how to sew the FOE to the top edge of the mesh pocket. It should start playing automatically in the video player on this page, but if it does not, you can find it on YouTube here.
3. Pin or clip the mesh pocket to the front of the quilted pocket piece, with the bottom and side edges aligned.
Don’t worry if the mesh has stretched out a bit - just let it hang off the edge. You can trim it in a few minutes.
4. Baste the mesh pocket to the quilted pocket piece around the 3 raw edges, sewing 1/8’’ from the edge.
Trim away any mesh that overlaps the edge, if necessary.
5. Sew vertical lines to divide the mesh pocket into 3 compartments. Follow the drawn lines on the quilted piece, backstitching neatly at the top and bottom of each line.
Make the Binding
1. Sew 2 1/4’’ strips of fabric together at an angle to make a piece that is 2 1/4’’ x 120’’. Trim away the extra fabric with a 1/4’’ seam allowance and press the seams open.
Fold the 120’’ binding strip in half lengthwise and press.
2. Fold the 2 1/4’’ x 14’’ binding strip in half lengthwise and press.
Bind and Attach the Pocket
1. Pin or clip the 14’’ long binding piece to the back of the pocket along the top edge. The raw edges should be aligned.
Stitch with a 1/4’’ seam allowance.
2. Flip the binding around to the front of the pocket and stitch it in place, sewing close to the fold.
3. Pin or clip the pocket to one end of the large quilted piece. The wrong side of the pocket should be against the pretty fabric side of the large piece.
4. Baste the pocket to the large quilted piece around the 3 raw edges of the pocket, sewing 1/8’’ from the edge.
Sew on the Gripper Fabric
1. Place the gripper fabric on your work area with the right (bumpy) side of the gripper fabric down. Then place your organizer on top with the foam side of the organizer against the wrong side of the gripper fabric.
Pin the layers together.
Cut around the organizer so that you have a piece of gripper fabric the same size.
2. Before removing the pins, baste the gripper fabric and the organizer together all the way around, sewing 1/8’’ from the edge.
Sew Binding to the Couch Caddy Organizer
1. Start by sewing the binding to the back (grippy) side of the organizer. I decided to start on the short end without a pocket so that the joining would be hidden in the couch and not show.
Leave about 6’’ of binding free, and then begin sewing the binding to the back side with a 1/4’’ seam allowance.
2. When you get to a corner, stop sewing about 1/4’’ from the corner and break threads so you can sew a mitered corner.
Fold the binding to the right creating a fold at a 45 degree angle as seen in the first picture above.
Then fold the binding over to the left, placing the fold even with the edge of the organizer, as seen in the second picture above. Pin or clip the binding to hold it in place while you move to your sewing machine.
Start sewing at the edge and continue attaching the binding to the back of the organizer with a 1/4’’ seam allowance.
3. Continue sewing the binding on and making mitered corners until you are about 6-8’’ away from the place where you started sewing. Break threads and remove the Couch Caddy from your sewing machine.
4. Bring the ends together and fold them back in the center where they meet. Crease the folds with your fingernail. Then trim away the extra binding fabric 1/4’’ past each creased fold.
5. Place the cut ends of the binding right sides together and stitch with a 1/4’’ seam allowance.
6. Finger press the seam open and re-fold the binding as before. Finish sewing the binding to the back of the caddy.
7. Flip the binding around to the front of the caddy and stitch it down close to the fold.
A sewing stiletto is a great tool to help with sewing binding and other small fussy parts.
As always, I love to see the things you make with my sewing tutorials and patterns! Upload a photo to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe or #sewcanshe so I can take a look.
And I bet you’ll also like these 11+ Free Sewing Projects to Make You More Organized.
xoxo,
