How to Sew a Pencil & Notepad Case

Purchase fabric for a notepad cover at craft and fabric stores.

By making a fabric case for a pencil and notepad, you can turn these two inexpensive items into a useful gift or item to be sold at fundraisers and craft fairs. If you have basic sewing skills, you can simply quilt the fabric and make a case in the style of a book cover. Choose cotton quilting fabrics, which are available in multiple patterns and themes to custom make cases for your friends.

Things You'll Need

• Ruler
• Scissors
• Cotton fabric
• Batting
• Sewing pins
• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Disappearing ink fabric pen
• Bias binding
• Elastic
• Button
• Ribbon

Instructions

1. Measure your notepad.

2. Cut two pieces of fabric and a piece of batting. Each piece should be double the width of the notepad plus two inches and the length of the notepad plus one inch.

3. Baste the fabrics and batting together. Sandwich the batting between the two fabrics and pin them together. If you are using two different fabrics, decide which one is going to be the outer cover of your case.

4. Quilt these fabrics together. Set the stitch length on your machine to an elongated stitch and place the fabrics under the foot. Depress the foot and use any stitch pattern you desire to quilt the pieces together. Since you are quilting a small piece, make sure that the pattern has close set lines no more than one inch apart. A simple random meandering stitch would work well. Lift the foot and turn the fabrics, as necessary.

5. Wrap the quilted piece over the notepad as if it were a book cover and trim it to the exact size you want. Allow one-half inch all round so that the notepad is protected.

6. Bind the raw edges of quilting by sewing bias binding in a coordinating color to the edges. Pin the binding in place and then sew it on your machine.

7. Sew a strip of 1-inch wide elastic to the back inside cover to hold the back of the notepad in place. Position the elastic horizontally if the notepad is bound at the top, and vertically, if the notepad is bound at the side. Sew a short piece of elastic to the spine area of the inside cover to hold a pencil in place

8. Sew a button halfway down the edge of the front cover and sew a 6-inch piece of ribbon in the corresponding place on the back cover to make a decorative closure for your case.

References

• "200 Quilting Tips, Techniques & Trade Secrets: An Indispensable Reference of Technical Know-How and Troubleshooting Tips"; Susan Briscoe; 2009

Resources

• "Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: Basic Techniques for Sewing, Applique, Embroidery, Quilting, Dyeing, and Printing, plus 150 Inspired Projects from A to Z"; Martha Stewart; 2010