School supply lists are already circulating, which means somewhere a kid is about to lose their third pencil case of the year down a locker vent. Felt fixes this problem better than you’d think. It doesn’t fray, it doesn’t need a sewing machine, and it holds up to backpack abuse way longer than the flimsy zippered pouches you get in a five-dollar multipack.
This is a no-sew build, which sounds like a shortcut but honestly makes a sturdier case than most beginner stitching would. Fabric glue and felt are basically best friends. Here’s how the whole thing comes together.
What you’ll need
Two coordinating sheets of stiff felt (the thicker craft felt, not the thin acrylic stuff that sags), a strong fabric glue, a strip of ribbon or elastic for the closure, and some scissors with an actual sharp edge. If you want embellishment, this is a great excuse to raid your button jar. A row of mismatched buttons down the flap looks intentional and covers up any glue that got sloppy.
A multipack of stiff felt sheets and a bottle of no-sew fabric glue will cover this project with plenty left over for whatever you decide to make next. If you’d rather understand what makes felt behave the way it does before you commit to a project, the Wikipedia entry on felt is a surprisingly good rabbit hole on how the fibers actually bond.
Step one: cut your rectangle
Cut one piece of felt about 8 by 10 inches. This becomes your case when folded. Round the corners slightly with your scissors if you want a softer look instead of sharp points that curl over time.
Step two: fold and glue the sides
Fold the rectangle into thirds like a letter, leaving the top third as a flap that folds over the opening. Run a thin, even line of fabric glue along both side seams and press firmly for about thirty seconds. Don’t glob it on. A thick bead of glue takes forever to dry and tends to seep through the felt, leaving a shiny patch that looks like you spilled something. Thin and patient wins here.
Step three: add the closure
Cut a small slit near the tip of the flap and glue a button on the body of the case to match it up, buttonhole-style. Or skip the slit entirely and glue a strip of hook-and-loop tape under the flap, which is faster and more forgiving if your buttonhole cutting skills are questionable. Either way, let it cure fully before you test it, or you’ll rip the glue loose on the first try.
Step four: decorate
This is the fun part and also entirely optional if you’re making these in bulk for a classroom. Felt cutouts, embroidery floss stitched loosely on top just for texture, or a line of buttons all work. Kids especially like picking their own button combo, so if you’re making a batch for siblings, let them pick from the jar so nobody ends up with the \”wrong\” one.
A few notes before you start gluing everything you own
Stiff felt holds its shape without any interfacing or backing, which is the whole reason this method works without a needle in sight. If you use the thin, cheap felt instead, the case will droop and the glue seams won’t hold nearly as well, so it’s worth spending the extra couple dollars on the stiffer sheets. And if you’re prepping these for a classroom swap or a teacher gift, they take about fifteen minutes each once you’ve got your rectangle template cut, which makes an evening assembly line pretty painless.
One pencil case for one kid rarely stays alive past October anyway. Might as well make the replacement yourself, and make it something that can survive being sat on.
