Today we’re showing you how to sew your own fluffy DIY pencil case for school or home.
This sewing project for kids is great back to school craft and would also make a gorgeous handmade gift idea.
My kids are back at school this week from their Summer break, and what a long, hot Summer break it’s been!
It was a season filled with devastating fires and extreme heatwaves (want to take a walk outside in the 48ºC smokey air anyone?). The leaves on our garden plants got sunburned in the heat and the grass tuned a crispy-brown. Most of our national parks were closed and many popular holiday destinations were turning tourists away in droves, having bushfires of their own to deal with.
Not surprisingly, we spent a lot of the time indoors – which means, of course, more time for crafting.
My kids are big into stationary DIY’s. They love to watch tutorials on youtube for inspiration and come away with plans to make squishy-cover glittery notebooks, slime-filled pens and complicated fold-out stationary caddies complete with tiny paper-clip drawers and other fancy moving parts. The last one we actually attempted but it proved a little time-consuming and challenging for my 11 year old. Thankfully this fluffy DIY pencil case idea she came up with turned out to be a winner.
The DIY pencil case requires a length of furry material which we bought from our local craft supplier (Spotlight). Miss 11 purchased the fabric with her own pocket money – it cost her around $6 for half a meter on sale, and I bought her a zipper to go with it. Of course, you could buy a factory-made pencil case for less but this is waaay more fun, right?
You could sew this quickly and easily using a sewing machine, and I’m all for teaching kids to use sewing machines except the bobbin holder in my own machine has come apart and I have NO idea how to put it back together again, so by default we hand-sewed our pencil cases. My 11 year old made hers mostly by herself but asked me to finish off the zipper part for her.
Here’s how to make it…
How to make a fluffy DIY pencil case
You will need:
- A zipper, the length depending on how long you want your pencil case to be, ours are 30cm long. We purchased ours from Spotlight but these ones on Amazon look cool
- A piece of furry material (like what you’d make a teddy bear with) which is the same length as your zipper. There are a range of different colours and textures available on Amazon
- Embroidery thread
- Sewing needle which is the right size for embroidery thread
How to:
- Cut out a square of fabric which is the same length as your zipper, using a lead pencil and ruler to measure it out and draw the square on the back of the fabric before cutting out.
- Fold the square in half so the fluffy side is on the inside. Sew up each side using blanket stitch.
- Fold the lip of the open part over and place the zipper zip-side-down against it. Take a piece of embroidery thread the same colour as your zipper. Sew the zipper onto the open edge of the pencil case using running stitch. It’s a good idea to try and make the stitches small and neat for durability and to keep it tidy. Repeat with the other side of the zipper.
- Turn the pencil case inside out, zip up and you’re done – it’s as easy as that!
Miss 11 is so happy with her hand-made pencil case!
More fun sewing projects for kids
- Make a super-cute dinosaur softie
- These sweetheart bookmarks make lovely handmade gifts
- Kids will love making – and then using – this fringed hippy bag
- Make an adorable jelly fish softie
- Sew some quick and easy felt pencil toppers, we have both monster and minion designs to choose from
- Here are a selection of fun and easy sewing projects for kids by some of my blogging buddies
