About: goldbarkleather.com || Gold Bark Leather is all about helping the beginner become a skilled craftsman in the art of leatherworking. Leatherworking has become a passion that fuels an enthusiasm for life. And I …

My Notes Are Ugly!

I know, I know, you've had this same problem too. You're ready for a night out on the town, you're dressed up, you look damn good, and then you look over at your journal. Disgusting. Why can't your journal be as classy as you? Don't worry it can.

Well.. maybe you've not had this problem, but you can still make your journal look pretty sharp with this simple leather cover. Which, by the way, is a great project for someone who is first beginning leatherwork. If you’re brand new to the craft, take a look at another one of my guides for a simple leather wallet, which is a little bit easier than this one. However, if you newer to the craft but want a bit of a challenge, take this project on. I would say it will take you about five hours from start to finish. With this project you will develop some important skills for leathering working like: cutting, stitching, riveting, and edge finishing. And of course, your journal is going to thank you for it.

If you’re the guy who is thinking, ‘Leatherworking sounds like fun, but I don’t know if I could pull it off let alone afford it.” Let me assure you that you can pull it off. This is a fairly simple project and a great project to get started. Let me also assure you that, comparatively, leatherworking is a pretty inexpensive craft to pick up. You can spend a lot on tools, but if you buy the right ones, know where to look, and just get the basic tools as your starting, you can keep costs down. I’ve written a guide on my blog to help you buy your first leather tools and another guide to give you confidence when buying your first piece of leather.

What You Need

Here's a quick list of everything you'll need for this project:

-Something to cut with (Rotary Cutter/X-acto Knife if you are new. Round Knife if you already have one).

-Leather Glue (I use Seiwa Leather Cement from GoodsJapan, but any glue cement should work.)

-Thread

-Stitching Needles

-Diamond Chisel

-Stitching Groover

-Burnisher or a Piece of Canvas

-Edge Beveler

-Gum Tragacanth

-Rivet Setter and Anvil

-Snaps

-Dye and Carnauba Cream (if the leather isn't pre-dyed)

-Leather (I used a 4oz leather for this project)

Here is a description of these items if you are unsure what they are or what their use is.

This project has a little more wiggle room than most when it comes to the thickness of leather you decide to use. However, I would avoid anything over 6oz. Anything bigger than that will be really stiff and hard to close. If you only have 7oz+ leather for whatever reason, this project would still work, but you might need to wet form the leather to make sure it bends in the middle. Wet forming is pretty simple and a quick google search will teach you this process.

A quick description of the wallet:

This leather cover was designed based on the Piccadilly brand of journals found at Barnes & Nobles. I chose these mostly because they are cheap. The way the journal cover is designed, you can simple replace a filled journal with an empty one when need be. This will also fit most half-page sized journals, such as a Moleskine. The cover measures 11.5' by 9 1/4'