Hello :)

I have always wanted a leather notebook, but every time I found one they either wasn't the one I wanted, or they were to expensive. So I decided to make one myself.
And I feel pretty happy about the finished product.

I have been working with leather before, and because of that I have the most basic tools for working with leather.

- A good sharp knife

- Leather sewing needles

- Awl

- Metal ruler

- Rotary punch

- Cutting mat

- Plastic hammer

- Thin furniture leather (in chosen color)

- Waxed thread

- Small cheap notebook (with semi-hard cover)

Step 1: Cutting the Leather

The first I did was to measure the cover on the notebook. Which I used to make a model for the big piece of leather covering the entire exterior of the notebook. On one of the short sides of the rectangle I added my design for the closing/covering flap for the notebook. And on the other short side I added what was to be the pocket
for securing one side of the notebook cover. On each of the longer sides I added 0,4mm for seam allowance.

When the model was finished the only thing to do, was to trace the pattern onto the leather and cut it.

I had to cut one more piece of leather the same size as the pocket for securing the notebook cover.

And last but not least I had to cut a long leather strap, used for closing the notebook.

Step 2: Sewing Lines

The next step was to glue the pieces together where the seam should be. The pocket for securing the notebook cover was folded and glued in place, and the second pocket was also placed correctly and glued.

After marking my seam allowance, I then used the rotary punch to mark where the seam holes had to be.

I then used the awl to make the holes where the rotary punch had marked.

Step 3: Sewing

When sewing I use the saddle stitch technique, which means sewing with two needles one in each end of the thread.

I only had waxed flax thread made with 4 strings, but I thought that this was too thick for my project. But fortunately I was able to separate the strings, and in this way make a thread consisting of 2 strings, which I think looks better in my project.

Step 4: Attech the Strap

When all the sewing was done I had to attach the strap. I made a small cut in the front flap where the strap should be attached. I then put the strap through the hole and secured the end by folding it a few times fixed with a cros stitch.

Step 5: Finished

Then the only thing left was to put the notebook in the leather cover and tie the strap around and voila a leather notebook, which looks pretty cool.

And when the all the space in the notebook is used up, you can just remove the leather cover and buy a new notebook and put the cover on. Cool right ? :D

That was all for now.

Hope it was informative enough, it is my first tutorial. And I always forget to take pictures along the way of the progress of my projects :P

Thank you for reading.

The Roman