If you’ve ever felt like hitting something really hard and getting a useful and fashionable accessory for your trouble, this project could be right up your alley. Stemming from an incident where we mistook a friend’s bag for a pencil case, we decided that that wasn’t a half-bad idea. Our only issue was finding the right pencil case, and although Batman was a tempting alternative at Cheap as Chips we decided to go with the more “classic” model. We reckon it could work even better with the smaller size pencil case but that somehow seemed unbearably cute when we were thinking up this project.

What you’ll need
1 x pencil case with crazy plastic letter sleeves
1 x large eyelet kit
1 x 75cm open end metal zip.
4 x sewing pins
1 x pair of scissors
1 x hammer
1 x sheet of ‘good’ paper.

Step 1 Align the ends of the zip with the top corners of the pencil case so the zip looks like a handle (hint it is the handle). Be sure that the zip isn’t twisted and that it extends the same length down either side of the pencil case and wraps around the front and back without interfering with the opening. Use the sewing pins to secure the zip in place with one pin on the front, and one on the back panel of each corner of the pencil case.

Step 2 Use the sewing scissors to pierce a rough hole through the zip and pencil case where each eyelet will go. You will need to use an eyelet on the front and back panel of each side. Make sure the eyelets in corresponding panels line up so the handle will be straight when attached.

Step 3 Pick a corner to start in and thread the eyelet through the rough hole you just made. Use the eyelet kit and hammer to bash the eyelet into place. Hammers are fun but be careful of your thumb, the eyelet kit has instructions on the back of the packet to follow but say nothing of thumb safety – we can’t stress it enough! Fixing the eyelet, you’ve just attached your first bit of handle. Only three more
to go. Simply repeat the process.

Step 4 The lettering is where you can get a little bit more designer-like. Purchase some good quality card from your local papery (Pepe’s Paperie on Rundle Street is great). Choose the card to compliment your bag’s colour theme. Then, on the computer, pick a font and write your name or whatever word you want to display in the plastic sleeves. Test on blank paper first to make sure they are sized correctly then print and cut the letters to insert. All that’s left to do now is strap on the bag and boogie-on-down like it was 1993!

Now to all ye wonderfully creative people out there, please send us some projects you’d either like us to make or have made yourself and we promise we’ll make you famous throughout the lands.