A pencil case is something you use every day at school – and giving it your own cute spin is a lot easier than you would think!
Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to sew to make a sturdy and cute pencil case. You can make a DIY pencil case no-sew style in an hour, tops!
Passionate DIY YouTuber Janice from the jayjaypearl YouTube channel shows us just how easy it is to make a pencil case with a beautiful lining in her DIY pencil case no sewing tutorial.
In this post, we’ll look at how she made an adorable and vibrant summer-themed pineapple pattern pencil case.
Supplies
You don’t need much other than some DIY essentials, but if you’ve never worked with fabrics before, you’ll likely need to visit the store.
The only two things you need to pick up are:
- White fabric
- Zipper (Janice uses an 18cm zipper)
Steps to Make a DIY Pencil Case
01 Make the Shell of the Pencil Case
Place the zipper on one end of your cloth, grab a marker, and mark the zipper’s ends onto the fabric.
Pick up the fabric from the end, holding the zipper in place as you do it, and fold the cloth inwards. Adjust the fold until you have your desired pencil case size.
Mark the ends of the zipper on the inner side of the fabric, open the cloth up and use a ruler to connect the markings and form a rectangle.
Cut out the rectangle – this is the shell of your pencil case!
Watch Janice make the shell at mark1:17 on her video.
02 Make the Lining and the Tab
In the video, Janice explains that you must cut out two more fabric pieces for your pencil case: one for the inner lining of the case and one for the tab.
The inner lining is 2cm shorter than the shell of the case. Janice’s pencil case shell measures 30cm x 20cm, so she cuts a piece of fabric to measure 28cm x 18cm.
Don’t worry if your shell has different measurements – just make sure that the lining is 2cm shorter.
Janice also cuts another piece of fabric to measure 8cm x 3.5cm, but if you don’t want a tab on your pencil case, you can skip this.
Janice explains this step at the 1:45 mark on her video.
03 Paint the Shell and Lining
Use a paintbrush and your choice of paints to paint pineapples onto the shell. Janice improvises and uses five different colors to make the pineapples look lively.
On the lining fabric, she paints a cute pattern that alternates between straight and dotted lines.
Skip to the 1:54 mark to check out Janice’s design.
04 Glue the Pieces Together
First, glue the lining to the shell, and then glue the two short edges of the case inwards.
Next, stick the zipper to the case, and glue its edges inwards for a better finish.
Finally, seal the corners of the case by folding and gluing them inwards. If you made a tab, stick it in before sealing the case shut.
And that’s it – your DIY pencil case no sew style is ready!
Janice covers her gluing at the 3:17 mark..
Full Video
Watching the full video will help you understand the look Janice was going for. She nails the summer vibe!
You can also use the timestamps above to skip to the steps you need a demonstration for.
FAQs
I don’t have a hot glue gun. What adhesive should I use?
You can use the Beacon Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive – it dries fast, is waterproof, doesn’t stain the cloth, and the flexible bond lasts long.
What is the best fabric to use for the case and lining?
Most DIYers, including Janice, use whatever fabric they have at hand, or buy fabric that suits the look they’re going for – there’s no set type of material that you must use. However, if durability and form are what you need, you could use upholstery fabrics or canvas for the shell of the case.
For the lining, it’s easiest to use quilting cotton – but you could always get fancy and use satin, or something similar to the glowing, geometric patterned fabric that Janice uses for her minimalistic style pencil case.
Additional Tips
Janice’s method is flexible – you can make the pouch as large or as portable as you please, design your own fabric, or use fabric that matches your taste.
There are tons of customizations you can make!
While Janice makes pineapples on her pencil case, you can make an emoji, paint your favorite character, or splash different paints on it for a fresh look.
You can also change the functionality of the pencil case entirely. If you carry a lot of pencils, rulers, and more, you can make a large foldable pencil case.
If you carry a limited amount of stationary, you can remove the zipper from Janice’s design entirely, and make an attractive zipper case as YouTuber CraversBeau did.
Make sure you use the flexibility Janice’s tutorial offers to make the pouch unique to your taste and needs. Don’t be afraid to give it your own spin!
And don’t forget to check out Janice’s YouTube channel jayjaypearl for more cute DIY projects!