DIY Pencil Clutch

Around this time of year as a kid, I’d organize all of my school supplies. I’d sit on the floor three-hole punching and reinforcing my 5 for $1 folders with packing tape and covering them in drawings related to the subject I’d decided they were for. My notebooks, of course, would color-correspond with their folders. And then I’d set up a sweet binder with all my folders and class schedule. It was so dope.

All that is to say, I’m now a professional librarian, and my alarming level of nerd love for school supplies has yet to wane. A couple years ago, I made a clutch using rulers and felt that I am still pretty excited about and use all the time. Since I can’t get enough of all things bookish, I recently got the notion in my head to take the school supply clutch concept to the next level with pencils and a slightly different structure, and I think I might love this one even more!

Supplies

30 pencils
quilting thread
1/4 yd. wool felt
sewing needle
scissors
straight pins
snap closure

Directions

Cut out a felt rectangle that is 18 inches by 7.5 inches. Sew 30 pencils one by one, over the center of the felt rectangle (I know, I didn’t center mine, but I recommend it from experience, ha!).

I attached my pencils by tightly sewing twice around each end of the pencil as well as the center of the pencils, and sewing the pencils together by sliding the needle under the previous pencil’s threads as I went. Another alteration I recommend from the pictures here is not sewing the pencils down so close to the ends. If you sew around your pencils about 3/4 of an inch from the ends of the pencil, plus right down the center, they’ll be more secure. :)

Once your pencils are secure, the hardest part of the clutch is over! Next cut out two rectangles of felt that are 9.5 inches by 3 inches.

Fold in the pencil-free ends of the felt and sew them down with a running stitch along the eraser edge and the pencil end edge. Then fold one 9.5×3 inch rectangle exactly in half and pin to keep the fold. Center the folded rectangle on one of your running stitch edges of the soon-to-be clutch. Sew the folded end of the rectangle flush to the edge of your clutch, again with a running stitch.

In this photo I’m pointing out how that sewed edge looks on my finished clutch, for your reference.

Then align the non-creased end of your folded rectangle with the top of your clutch. sew each edge down from the top of the clutch, stopping when you run into the sewn down, folded edge of your rectangle. This picture should help you visualize what I mean.

Yes, there’s supposed to be a little bit of a fold where the tall edges of the rectangle meet the folded edge. This allows the clutch to open nicely and accommodate more stuff.

Next, sew on your clutch’s snap closure, and repeat the process of sewing the small rectangle onto the other side of your clutch.

At this point, if you’ve got any felt sticking out past the edges or top of your clutch, feel free to trim it for a crisper look.

Ta da! Another bookish clutch to add to your fall wardrobe! I’ve taken this rad little clutch out to dinner a couple times since finishing it, and it totally works. The only flaw is that I sewed the eraser and writing ends of the pencil down too close to the edge, so occasionally a pencil will pop out of its thread. A popped-out pencil is fixable, but it’s easier to prevent the popping in the first place. That’s why I recommend sewing them down 3/4 of an inch from each end. It’s more secure that way. :)

What do you think? Too wacky? Do you love it? I think this goes really well with some of my funkier, bright dresses, and holds the perfect amount of stuff for an evening out.

PS: If you like this clutch, here’s a shot of the ruler clutch I mentioned at the top of this post. You can click the image below to go to that tutorial.