How to Make Detachable (Faux) Leather Collars Using Recycled Notebooks

Old faux leather notebooks are a great source of leather scraps suitable for small projects.

There are many different types of leather that can be used in a notebook cover. Soft and pliable leatherette, thick and robust leather, thin and paper-like vinyl. It's easy to work with them and only takes minutes to remove them from the notebook covers. You can use it in small craft projects, jewellery making or create fashion accessories.

I wanted to make a detachable leather collar to spruce up my boring tops as well as use it to cover any frayed collar edges in my sweaters.

You don't need many supplies for this project: old or new notebook, scalpel, ribbon or jewellery findings. You can use rubber glue, spray contact adhesive glue, E6000, PVA glue or superglue for small details.

Before you do anything final, use scraps of your chosen leather to conduct some tests. Check which glue will work better and, if you want to draw or paint on the leather, which art supplies to use and how to varnish them.

Once I started cutting old notebooks, I couldn't stop. I ended up with more leather than needed, so I made a few additional statement necklaces like the feather, hands and bows, which are also included in this Instructable.

Step 1: Notebooks

As I said before, notebooks can be covered in different types of fake leather and most of them are workable. However, if you encounter one that rips or stretches and refuses to peel away from the cover, leave it be, it won't be usable. My yellow notebook was like that, once I started cutting it and peeling it, it wouldn't budge. Turned out it was a vinyl sticker, not vinyl leather.

Using old notebook covers is better than throwing them away, because they don't get recycled. Once you extract your leather, you will see most notebooks have some sort of foam or plastic backing underneath, as well as layers of glue.

Cut the leather close to the edge, if there are stitches you can remove them to cut a bigger leather rectangle.

Gently peel the leather from the cover, and place the whole thing in a large bowl or sink filled with water.

Leave it to soak for 15-20 min. After soaking paper backing should just slide off the leather. If there is a thin tacky layer of glue covering the back, you can use a nail brush to gently scrub it off.

Pat dry and leave it out to for a few hours to dry fully.

Step 2: Ironing the Creases

If you have any creases, you can use a regular iron to flatten them out. Instead of using an ironing board, use a piece of melamine board or plywood, or something similar to keep the leather flat. Sandwich the leather between kitchen towels to avoid direct heat. Iron on medium heat until all creases are gone. While the leather is still hot from ironing, weigh it down with something flat and heavy to help preserve the shape while it cools.

Test it on a small patch first, so you don't end up with melted vinyl. I used 9 different notebooks and had no problems with ironing any of them, but you never know, it's better to test beforehand.

Step 3: Detachable Collars

Instead of ribbons, you can use jewellery findings or snap fasteners. I used whatever I had on hand, plus ribbons allow me to control the length of the collar better, they work whether I want the collar high and tight on my neck, or low and loose.

Step 4: Collar Making

Start by printing a sketch of your chosen collar. I provided sketches which you can be scale down or up, or modify to fit your needs.

I cut the flap shape out of a piece of rigid paper, and traced two shapes onto the back of the leather sheet. I carefully cut these two flaps with scissors, then I applied a layer of glue onto the remaining leather sheet and pressed my cut flaps onto the glue.

I covered the leather sheet with cling film (to protect the book from the glue) and then pressed a very heavy book on top to make sure both flaps set properly.

I used a scalpel (or sharp scissors) to carefully cut each collar piece out of the leather sheet. If you plan on using a ribbon, make sure to apply the glue the way I did (pic 2), so that the last 1/2 inch of the thinner side of the collar is glue-free. That way you can fit a ribbon end between two pieces of leather (pic 4). I used a few drops of superglue to attach a ribbon and then applied a thin layer of rubber glue to close the ends.

To keep both collar flaps together, I positioned them at my chosen angle and used a tiny drop of superglue to keep them temporarily together. I used a strong thread to run two stitches through the back, so thread wouldn't be visible at the front.

One of my notebooks had metal corners, which I removed with pliers and I attached them to the ends of my collar for decoration.

Step 5: Feather Necklace

Step 6: Feather Making

I printed the basic feather shape and modified it to add more detailed feathers.
I cut the feather out, traced the pattern on the back of the leather and cut it out.
That line running down the middle of the feather was meant for stitches. Originally, I meant to put some stitches by hand, so I marked them down with a pen (2-3mm intervals) and then used a large needle to poke holes.
I wanted the feather to have open edges to allow the 'feathers' to fan out more, so I only applied the glue in the middle (pic 3) and I also avoided the area where the stitches would go, since it would be too difficult to stitch through the glue.
Once glue was applied, I placed the feather upside down on the remaining leather piece and left it to dry pressed under a heavy book.
I planned on running stitches by hand, but due to a thumb injury, I had to settle on using a sewing machine. Since I'm not very good at it, I ended up getting the stitching a bit messy.
I cut the feather out and then used small, sharp scissors to cut more 'feathers' all around the edges.
Last step was to poke a small hole through the back leather and attach a ring for a jewellery chain.

Step 7: Bow Making

Before I settled on a size of my bow, I played around with paper to figure out how big and thick I wanted it. In the end I settled on a 8cm x 11 cm bow, so I cut an 8cm x 22 cm rectangular piece of leather.
At the back of the leather I marked the middle with a pen.
I used a needle to poke holes along the middle and the edges (pic 4)
I folded each side towards the middle, flattened the leather and used a large needle to thread an embroidery thread through the holes.
Next, I grabbed both ends of the thread and pulled to fold the leather and create a bow shape. I tied the ends of the thread several times to secure it.
I used a thin, black leather strip to attach to the middle of the bow. I used a needle and thread to sew it together at the back.
I wanted my bow to be used as a hair tie, so before I secured the black leather strip, I threaded a regular hair tie through the leather strip and then sew it it together.

Step 8: Spooky Hands

I know this one is a little out there, but Halloween is fast approaching and I generally like my jewellery and accessories to be as weird as possible. Using fake, light coloured leather for making spooky hands makes the whole necklace look better, because leather creases actually make the hand look like real, wrinkled skin, albeit grey (you have to take my word for it, as my camera failed to capture fine details).

Step 9: Hands- Adding Cardstock to Make Them More Rigid

For this project I followed the same steps as with the collars and a feather.
There is only one difference- my leather was very soft and malleable, so I had to glue a layer of rigid cardstock (I used a cereal box cardboard) between two layers of leather.

Step 10: Painting and Varnishing - Experiments

I didn't have any leather-appropriate paints and I didn't want to invest in costly supplies I'd only use once, so I experimented with regular items found around the house.

I used black pen with minimum-smudge ink to draw the black outlines. I tried using a permanent marker, which turned out even better, but I only had thick markers and this project needed a thin tip marker.
For white colour I used a corrector fluid, I only needed one layer of it and the end result was very smooth. When I used white acrylic paint, I ended up needing 3 layers of paint and the end effect was a bit of a mess.
For colours, I found that the best way was to use nail polish. I needed two thin layers and the result was very even.

Every marker, pen, paint and nail polish was tested on a scrap of leather before I applied it on the actual hand. I only had one chance and failure wasn't an option. Before I painted the hand, I also tested which varnish would work best at sealing the colours and which method would be best to prevent the ink from smudging. I settled on a regular, water based matte sealer.

Lastly, I poked holes in two places and added rings for the jewellery chain.

Step 11: Edge Coating

My other projects used thin leather and since they were glued leather-to-leather, they didn't have any visible edges. Hand necklaces had a layer of cardstock in between the leather and that made them thicker and the edges more pronounced and ugly.

In situations such as this one, you could use edge sealers like this product: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiebings-Dark-Brown-Edge-... It's applied to the edge with a special tool and creates an impenetrable seal that comes in different colours, is waterproof and makes the leather projects look more finished.

Again, I decided to experiment and I was actually quite surprised with my findings.

I mixed a small amount of acrylic paint in the grey shade closest to the hand and mixed it with a small amount of quick drying, water based wood varnish. I carefully applied the mixture with a toothpick and made sure none was smeared on the surface of the hand. Any mistakes I made, I was able to fix quickly with cotton buds and then I left it out to dry for 1 hour. I honestly didn't think it would work, but it actually sealed the edges pretty well and it made the necklace look much, much better.

Step 12: The Importance of Modifing the Patterns

Before you decide on the size of your necklace or collar, you should print different sizes, cut them out and test which one would look better on your neck.

My mannequin is very tiny, it's American size S, while I'm American size L. The same necklace or collar looks completely different on the mannequin than it looks on me.

Feather necklace, for example, covers nearly the entire chest area of the mannequin, while on me, it only covers the cleavage area.

Just something to keep in mind :)