With more and more people toting around laptops and netbooks, the market for third-party notebook sleeves and cases has heated up. However, as many of us already know, those offerings can sometimes be hit or miss—laptop sleeves can be ugly, expensive, or both. So why not show off how much of a unique snowflake you are by using something unconventional and creative?

Making your own stuff has always been a popular pastime among the geek crowd, but DIY projects have taken off especially well in the last couple of years. Here, we'll show you how to make your own laptop sleeve for any size notebook. All you need is some interesting fabric, a needle and thread, and a little bit of time.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we are using a sewing machine, which you may also have (don't be bashful, guys—we here at Ars already know that many of you either have your own or have access to one. And trust us, it makes things much faster, so just give it a shot). If you don't have access to a machine, don't worry—there are no fancy stitches involved and all you need to be able to do is sew a straight stitch with a needle and thread. If you need help with that, check out this YouTube video before starting.

What you need:

Half yard (or so) of outer sleeve fabric

Half yard of lining fabric

Thread (preferably in a matching or complementary color, but it can be any color you want)

Your laptop measurements

Optional:

Sew-on or glue/iron-on velcro, or a button

Getting started

If you don't trust your measurement skills to grab your laptop's dimensions, you can cheat by going to the product page (in my case, the MacBook Air tech specs page) to find the exact numbers. This can obviously be applied to anything you want to make a sleeve for: be it a phone, camera, or netbook. Take the thickness and split it in half, and then add that number to both the length and width of the rectangle. So, for example, if your laptop is 15" x 9" x 1", your rectangle measurements are now 15.5" x 9.5". Then add on a half inch to every side—this is called your "seam allowance" where you'll be sewing. Now your measurements are 16.5" x 10.5". If you're using a notebook like mine with not-very-ruler-friendly measurements, just round up to the nearest eighth of an inch or so for some additional wiggle room.

Cut your rectangles out of your outer fabric as well as your lining. Make sure to cut two of each (if you fold over your fabric before you cut it, you'll only have to cut once). From now on, we'll be referring to the side that you want displayed as the "right side" and the inner/ugly side of the fabric as the "wrong side." This applies to both the outer and lining fabrics.

Repeat that process for the lining fabric, but leave a gap at the bottom a couple inches wide. This is for turning everything right side out, and you'll sew it up by hand later.

Turn the lining fabric right side out and position it inside the outer fabric, which is still right side in. This will result in the right sides of the outer and lining fabrics facing each other, or the wrong sides both facing out.

Make sure the top edges are lined up (you'll probably want to pin this time) and sew them together all the way around, a half inch from the top.

Now you have a laptop sleeve that is entirely inside out. How do you make it right side out? Through that hole you left in the lining, of course. Reach in there and begin pulling your outer fabric through the hole until the whole thing comes through and the lining turns right side out as well. Then tuck the lining inside of the outer fabric.

You'll probably want to press it so it doesn't look so wrinkly.

Finishing touches

You'll need to close up that hole before using the sleeve, so we suggest doing that with what's called a "slip stitch." Basically, this means you're sewing the two sides together from the right side, but without the thread showing when you're finished. This is one of the better YouTube videos I've found to demonstrate this stitch, although it's not exactly how I do it. Since you're not hemming something, you can grab more than a few threads (like this person is doing) when sewing the two sides together, and make sure your stitches are close enough together so that there's not much of a gap. Do this across the length of the hole.

If you'd like, you can now top stitch the upper edge of the sleeve so that the lining is more securely in place on the inside. This means you'll be sewing a visible line around the top of your laptop sleeve; some people like to do a double top stitch for decorative purposes. If you have a machine with special stitches, you could even use those for decoration if you want. Bear in mind that you'll be sewing through several layers of fabric at this point, so trying to get too fancy might result in some knotted threads.

If all you need is a basic laptop sleeve, you're done! Some people like to use pre-quilted fabric (that you can find at many basic fabric stores, like JoAnn's) to add a little bit of padding to either the outer fabric or the lining, or they sometimes add a very thin layer of batting (that puffy stuff that goes inside of quilts) to the wrong side of the fabric before attaching it to the lining.

Optional flap

Some people like that little strap that comes over the top of laptop sleeves in order to keep the contents inside secure. If you want to add one, do this before you sew the outer fabric and the lining together.

Cut two identical rectangles about 3.5 inches wide and maybe 6 inches long (you can experiment with this to get the best shape and size). Put the pieces right sides together and sew around three of the edges, leaving one of the short ends open. Turn the flap right side out and press/iron. You can also top stitch the outer edges if you'd like.

Wedge the flap upside down in between the outer fabric and the lining, with the raw edge just sticking out the top so you can see it. Pin it so it stays secure, and then sew around the top edge of the entire thing as instructed earlier.

Once you turn the whole thing right side out, your flap will be sticking out one side at the top.

You can now either sew or glue on velcro to both the strap and where it will attach on the other side of the sleeve.

(I couldn't find my velcro, so I just used a button.)

Now, go enjoy your homemade laptop sleeve and impress your family and friends by making some for them, too.