I spend most of my days working at a desk on a laptop. I’m sure many of you can relate. My current desk is made out of a door and kitchen cabinets. The adventure was a whole story in of itself. I love it, but when I’m working for a long time my wrist and forearm start to hurt, due to the pressure on the edge of the door. So I decided to make something to cushion the area and came up with a wrist comfort cuff.
DIY Wrist Comfort Cuff
I’ve had this problem for a while, but it wasn’t until my BBF told me about an item from her chiropractor, that was used to help her tendonitis, that truly inspired me.
My friend described something like the sore muscle corn bags I’ve made, but in this case it was used to rest your arm. My problem was more in the wrist and beginning of the forearm area, so I though it would be nice to have something that wrapped around the edge of the desk with padding for comfort. Here’s what I came up with:
The Materials
Hardware Cloth – I used 1/4 in 23 gauge
Quilting batting – an old towel or sock would probably work too
Duct Tape
Fabric
Sewing machine – I’m sure you could find a no-sew way with glue, tape or stitch witchery.
The Process
Cut your hardware cloth to size. I chose 4 inches wide by 10 inches long, but you can adjust this to suit your needs. I did think the area covering the top of the desk should match the bottom and allow additional space to cover the edge.
The first issue I noticed were the sharp edges of the hardware cloth.
So I used duct tape to soften them.
Next came the batting. I wrapped the metal twice with the batting. Depending on how thick your batting is you made need more or less. Test it out on the desk to get a feel for how comfortable it will feel when complete.
Then I used more duct tape to close the batting and finish the edges.
Next, cover it with a pretty fabric. I used some pretty cotton scrap fabrics that I have on hand. I traced around the cuff and cut out enough fabric to make a sleeve and left one short side open. Then after I inserted the cuff, hand-stitched the area closed.
If you don’t sew you can try fabric glue or stitch witchery to make the sleeve for the cuff. Other ideas would be to use a sock or an actual sleeve from a garment and hand stitch the ends. Or maybe you crochet or knit? That would be a great way to cover the cuff.
Now you can bend the cuff over the edge of the desk and rest your arm while you work. This cuff goes on easily and comes off just as easy, making it very portable. The sturdiness of this hardware cloth helps keep it shape, while adapting to different size desk edges.
I’m super happy with this wrist comfort cuff, and am thinking of making more for my family and friends. For now I’m using the green one, and the pretty blue and yellow floral is going to my friend, who inspired this project.
Earlene Ginter says
Your are one smart cookie,thanks my husband’s hands shake and when he use the mouse on the computer it is a problem& and physical therapy suggested he put a weight on top of his wrist to help steady it,but then it hurt the underside,so you just. gave me an idea. I will try to make one that wraps arcound the wrist soft and padded on one side and heavy on the other.again thanks for the help.
Patti says
Hi Earlene,
You know what they say, “necessity is the motherhood of invention!”
I am so glad that this project can help your husband. Thanks for letting me know.
You’ve made my day.
Patti
Maureen says
Practical, adjustable and pretty! What a great idea!
Patti says
Thanks. It was a great inspiration!
Holly says
Thank you so much for sharing that with us. You are brilliant! I’m gonna make make 2 for my husband. One for his work desk and another for his ham radio station desk. He’ll love it. He works on fire extinguishers and does automotive work, so his wrists can get really sore, plus we’re not getting any younger. haha
Thanks again, Holly
Patti says
Holly,
I’m so glad that you like it and I really hope it helps your husband. Thanks for letting me know!
Patti
Anne says
Such a smart design! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow morning that features your tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=86151 –Anne
Patti says
Thanks Anne,
I’ll share this on my social media!
Joyce Smith says
this is a great idea. where do you buy hardware cloth
Patti says
Hi Joyce,
I bought mine at home depot but I really think you could by it at any hardware store maybe even at places like Kmart and Walmart. The one I used was 1/4 in 23 gauge and I had to buy a whole roll which was more than I needed. I also think that you could vary the material depending on what is available near you.
Thanks for stopping by,
Patti
Denise/DIY Crush says
This is a fantastic project! I really need to make one of those. Would love to see you at my craft party which is new Thursdays at 7pm EST.
LILLIAN says
I just looked up hardware cloth and there are many different gauges and sizes and pretty expensive. Can you tell me what you used, i.e. gauge, size, etc? This is a cool idea and if I were you, I would look into getting a paten for it. You could sell a ton!
Patti says
Hi Lillian,
I thought of that. Hmmmm Anyway, I bought my hardware cloth at Home Depot. I found it in the area where they sell wood with chicken wire etc. This one is 1/4 in 23 gauge but I think you could really try others that might work too. I paid $9.39 including tax but this roll was 2 ft by 5 ft long so I have tons leftover. I guess I’ll just have to make more. 😉
Thanks for stopping by,
Patti
Valerie says
Genius!
You should sell these. Thanks for Sharing.
Valerie
Winnie says
Great idea and it also looks nice!1 I could definitely use one (and also my husband!)
Patti says
Thanks Winnie! My friend who inspired me is using hers on the arm of her chair. I guess it’s versatile. I’m loving mine. Long overdue for a solution.
Mary-the boondocks blog says
Patti this is a great idea and one we can all use since we all spend too much tie on the computer. It’s as if the mouse has become an e extension of our hand.
Patti Estep says
Hi Mary,
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Thanks for stopping by,
Patti
DazzleWhileFrazzled says
What a great idea! Visiting from Blogtalk.
Patti Estep says
Thanks!