How to Make a Leather Album

Cowhide leather can be used to create a leather album cover. The warm, soft textures of the leather give the album a nostalgic and luxurious feel. The following method in making a leather album can be applied to books of various sizes, from a small autograph book to a large photo album. The first step is finding a source for leather, which can be done online.

Things You'll Need

• Pages
• Ruler
• Scissors or cutter
• Leather hole punch
• Craft wood burner
• Bindings (rings, leather cords or shoelaces)

Instructions

1. 

   Gather together the pages you will be using in your album. They might be scrapbook paper or pages from photo albums. They will need to be all the same size and have two or three holes punched along one side of each page.

2. 

   Measure the height and width of one album page. These are referred to as measurement A. Add ½ inch to the width and 1 inch to the length to determine measurement B. If measurement A is 8 x 11 inches, then measurement B will be 8½ x 12 inches.

3. 

   Cut a piece of leather. The size should be the same size as measurement B. Cut a second piece of leather the same size. These will be the front and back covers of the leather album.

4. 

   Lay the front piece of your album cover before you. Place one album page on top of the leather. Move the page to the far left so that its left edge is even with the left edge of the leather cover. The page should be ½ inch from the top and bottom edge of the leather cover.

5. 

   Mark the location of the holes by drawing through the holes with a pencil.

6. 

   Make holes in the leather on the markings made in the previous step with the leather hole puncher. Repeat Steps 4 to 6 on the second piece of leather.

7. 

   Decorate the front of the cover by burning a design into the leather using a wood burner. Lightly draw the design with a pencil first, and then trace with the hot burner.

8. 

   Assemble the album by inserting the pages between the front and back leather covers. Leather strips, gold rings or shoelaces can be used for the binding.

Resources

• Leather Supply
• Buckskin Leather
• Tandy Leather