I found this fancy, quilted pillow sham at Marshall’s on clearance for $2. I figured I could make something out of it. I had this foam around forever planning to make a laptop case from a slip (which I still want to do). But, it was just too easy to transform this pillow case. My husband pointed out that no one would expect a laptop to be in this bag (in case your worried about that). Anyway, here is my process. Please feel free to improve upon this (there’s plenty of room to).

Gather materials. You need:

- a pillow case sham (with the opening in the middle)

- strong scrap fabric for liner (i used canvas)

- a strap of some kind (again use something strong, i used linen tape, but you could use a belt or cut the strap off of a thrift store purse)

- 1 yard of 1/2″ thick foam from the fabric store

- basic sewing and craft supplies

Mark and cut the foam. First, place the laptop on the front/center of the foam (a). Then mark around the laptop with a Sharpie (b). Tilt the laptop on it’s hinge-end and mark the thickness of it (c). Then, flip it upside down and trace around it again. Finally, tilt the laptop on it’s side and mark the thickness on the sides to make “tabs” (d).

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

This is what the foam will look like after it’s marked.

Cut around the outside edges.

Score and fold the foam. Then, use a knife to lightly score the foam on the lines (a). Test to see how the foam folds. Keep scoring lightly until it folds well (b).

(a) (b)

Glue the foam, make a pouch. Fold the foam and glue to form a pouch. I found that fabric glue worked well as it sets up quickly.

When the glue is dry, test to make sure your laptop fits.

Position and secure pouch in pillow case. Remove your laptop and put the foam in one side of the pillow sham (a). Center it and pin around it (b). Then sew around it (c). This keeps the foam in place.

(a) (b)

(c)

Create the liner. Fold the liner fabric in half. Place the laptop about 1/2 inch from the fold. Mark 1″ around the laptop (a). Cut it out and sew the sides with a 1/2″ seam allowance (b).

(a) (b)

Now square the bottom corners of the liner. Match the seam to the bottom fold of the liner, creating a triangle (a). Sew across the triangle about 1″ in from the tip and then trim (b).

(a) (b)

Put it together. Now place the liner inside the foam pouch. Seams together.

Fold the liner back about 1/2″ and pin to the pillow case (not to the foam) all the way around the opening.

Sew around the pinned edge. This can be tricky. Roll up the excess fabric that will form the flap and work slowly around. Get close, but try to avoid sewing the foam.

Sew on the strap. Pin the shoulder strap in place. Sew it on directly or use D rings. Just make sure that wherever you place the strap, it will be stable with the weight of the laptop. I found that it worked best to put the straps on the outside/top of the bag. Also, I made sure to sew the strap on REALLY well. I sewed it like 3 or 4 times to keep it from breaking off and dropping my laptop.

Here it is all finished (this could definately use some pockets). Altogether, it took me a couple of hours while trying to take pictures.