Padded Sunglasses Case Free Sewing Tutorial on Bombshell Bling

Summertime means lots of sunny days, and that means carrying a pair of sunglasses with you. And it doesn’t take much to get those lenses all scratched up. This DIY padded sunglasses case will keep your favorite shades scratch free even when they get knocked around in your purse.

I’ve got a free sewing pattern for you below.

I used a quilting cotton print for the front, and a flannel for the lining. The flannel lining is extra soft against the lenses. And quilting cotton comes in such a wide variety of styles and prints, you’re sure to find one that suits your personality.

The main fabric and lining are fused on to a flexible foam interfacing, creating kind of a double-sided padded fabric. Once you’ve got that double-sided foam fabric, it takes just one pattern piece to make the case. The foam between the main fabric and lining gives the sunglasses case padding and structure. And flannel on the lining side is extra soft against the lenses.

This is not a good project for prints with an obvious up or down orientation. With the way the fabric gets folded to make the case, you’ll end up with the print on the back being upside down.

The edges are neatly finished with bias tape, and a single KAM snap is the closure. KAM snaps are my favorite snaps to use. They’re sooo easy to install!

And check out how roomy it is on the inside! The pattern is shaped to give extra space to accommodate your glasses.

This padded sunglasses case is going to get a lot of use this summer!

If you can’t find the double-sided fusible foam, you could also use double-sided fusible fleece instead. The fusible fleece won’t have as much body as the foam interfacing, but it will still give plenty of protection for your sunglasses.

Supplies:

Main fabric – quilting cotton, 10” wide x 12” tall (print should have no obvious up/down)

Lining – flannel, 10” wide x 12” tall

Double sided fusible foam interfacing – 10” wide x 12” tall. You can also use double-sided fusible fleece, but the sunglasses case will have a softer shape.

Bias tape – 1 yard 3/8” or ½” double fold bias tape (unfolded the tape should be 1.5” or 2”)

1 set KAM snaps

Erasable fabric marking pen

Glue stick

Free pattern – Padded Sunglasses Case

Prep

Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the main fabric and lining fabric to the front and back of the fusible foam interfacing. This creates a double-sided piece of fabric with the main fabric on the front and the lining on the back, and a layer of foam between them.

Use an erasable fabric marking pen to trace the pattern on to the fabric piece you just created, then cut out along the lines.

Sew the Sunglasses Case

Finish the edge marked “front opening” on the pattern with bias tape. If you don’t already know how to do this, here is my favorite method:

Open out one side of the tape and sew it to the edge of the fabric, right sides together, raw edges aligned, and with your needle in the ditch of the fold. Ease the tape around the curves.
Flip the bias tape around the raw edges to the lining side, and glue it down with the folded edge of the bias tape just barely past the stitch line. Press with a hot iron to dry the glue.
Flip the piece back over (main fabric is on top) and top stitch the bias tape down 1/8” from the inside edge.
Trim the ends of the bias tape even with the edge of the fabric.

Fold the bottom edge (the one you just finished with bias tape) up, wrong sides together, at the dotted line.

Sew at the sides with ¼” seam allowance. The part you folded up is wider than the part you’re sewing it down to, creating a little hill in the middle. This little hill creates extra space inside the case for your glasses.

You’ll probably notice that the seam allowances are pretty bulky. Sew over the seam allowances with a short zig zag stitch to compress the seam allowance. I used a stitch width 4 and a stitch length 1.

Finish the edges of the sides and top of the sunglasses case with bias tape in one long seam. The process is mostly the same as before, but you’ll need to do a couple of things differently at the ends to get a clean finish at the bottom of your sunglasses case.

Make sure you leave about ¾” extra bias tape at each end.
When flipping the bias tape over the raw edges, you’ll need to first flip the extra bias tape at the end over the bottom raw edge. Then when you flip the bias tape over the sides, it’ll cover that bit you folded up over the end. Because of the sharp angles at the bottom of the sunglasses case, you may need to trim a little corner off the bias tape you fold up over the bottom so it gets fully covered by the bias tape you fold over it. Glue all of this in place before top stitching.
I know that sounds confusing but hopefully it will make some sense when you’ve got the bias tape in hand. Just experiment with folding the tape over the bottom and side edges till you have a clean look.

Install the Snaps

The very last step to making the sunglasses case is installing the snaps.

Following manufacturer’s instructions, install the stud side of the snap on the top flap at the marking. The smooth cap should be on the outside (main fabric), and the stud on the lining (flannel).

Install the socket side of the snap below the front opening at the marking. The smooth cap should be on the lining (flannel) and the socket side on the outside (main fabric).