How to Make a Leather Journal
A leather journal lends distinction to your thoughts. Leather journals are costly to buy, but inexpensive and easy to make. You may simply recover an existing blank journal with leather, or, create a removable cover for your favorite kind of journal, so that it lasts you for years (and many journals).
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Things You'll Need
- Blank journal
- Tailor's chalk
- Lightweight leather
- Craft glue
- Shears
- Wax paper or plastic wrap
- Sewing machine
Instructions
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Simple
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1
Buy a blank paperback journal. Point a hairdryer on the "Hot" setting toward the spine, to soften the glue.
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2
Carefully peel off the paperback cover, attempting to keep it in one piece. This will serve as a pattern for your leather.
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3
Lay the cover, open and flat, on top of the leather. Trace around the leather with tailor's chalk. Add 1/8 inch to the left and right sides of the leather. (It will not fold as flat as will the paper cover, and so needs a little extra to compensate.) Cut carefully with shears.
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4
Brush craft glue onto the coverless journal, along the spine and first and last pages, wherever the paperback cover was glued. Use a thin layer of glue---enough to bind to the leather, but not so thick that it smears or warps the leather.
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5
Wrap the leather cover carefully on the journal, pressing it along the spine and smoothing out any bubbles. Wrap the journal in wax paper or plastic, and press it under some heavy books. Periodically run your thumb along the pine to ensure that the leather binds to it. Let the journal dry overnight.
Removable Cover
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6
Buy a standard-sized journal, one that you are certain will be readily available in the future. The Moleskine and Exacompta brand journals have been available for decades. These come with a stiff cardboard cover, which will give shape to your finished work.
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7
Open the front and back cover of your journal, so that it creates a flat plane. Lay this flattened plane on top of your leather, and draw around it with your tailor's chalk. Measure 1/4 inch to outside of your chalk lines on the top and bottom, and draw two more lines. Add 3/8 inches to the right and left edges, and draw those lines. Cut your leather to these outside lines.
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8
Cut two inside flaps out of leather. These should be 3 inches wide, and the height of your journal cover.
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9
Lay the inside flaps on the inside of your journal cover, against the left and right ends. You may use a dot of glue on the corners to hold the flaps in place. Stitch along the three outside edges of the flaps, 1/8 inch from the outside edge. Your journal cover is ready to use.
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10
Add a ribbon for a nice finished touch. Cut a length of thin silk ribbon, perhaps 8 inches long, and glue one end to the middle and inside of your leather cover, near the top edge.
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1
Tips & Warnings
An old leather jacket or cushion should provide plenty of leather for your project.
Use a lightweight leather, otherwise, the journal will be difficult to stitch and close. More exotic leathers (for example, ostritch skin) are available from retailers like HideCrafter and Tandy Leather Factory.
