First of all, I am excited that you live in British Columbia because I have two sons there and I have been there several times. They live in Sidney. I just love it there. The flowers are soooo beautiful and everything is so pretty.
Getting on to your question, I would think if the laptop dropped like you said, there would not be a lot of protection from a home made case. That is why they have the hard covered cases for them. And all the work and cost you would put in, to me, I would just purchase one.
Blessings to you.
sandy14