Leather Journal Tutorial (the easy version!)

I've been wanting to try to make my own book for a while now, in fact ever since I saw my sister with a really cool looking leather bound writing book, especially when I knew how expensive it was!

The one sentence that has my husband's eyes rolling more than (most) any other: "I could totally make that myself!"

And so I did!

Here's how to did it, I got:

Leather remnants (from the luggage tag and Flynn Rider bags)

Printer paper cut in half (A4) there's four stacks there not pieces!

I also used my unpicker (used in sewing, not sure what it's real name is...)

A piece of coordinating card 

Needle and coordinating thread

First fold your paper in half to your desired page size.

Use your paper as a template for how big you want your leather cover, but add a little on the top and bottom.

I used my "unpicker" to make holes through all the paper (I just placed each pile inside each other).

Cut a piece of card slightly smaller than your leather, smear with PVA/white glue and stick in place.

Fold in half while it's still wet, but don't crease, you just want a bend like below...

Then place the paper inside the book.

Using the holes in the paper as a guide make holes in the cover so they line up.

Then sew through your holes tying a knot in the end (you can see mine on the left). 

Go through a few times till it feels secure, then tie a knot and trim.

Aaaaand you're done!

I'm actually quite pleased that I was able to not only make something for my 22 year old brother that he liked, but also be able to do it without spending!