Andersen leather : Notepad cover

This note pad cover was made to match this briefcase. It had to hold a Rhodia Pad No. 16 - A5 a G. V. Faber Castell pen and some business cards. I did not have any of these so I had to rely on measurements from the customer and the internet.

This was the first time I tried to dip dye a relatively big piece of leather. It did not take any pictures of this process but I will next time I do it. I made 2 mistakes. Firstly there were some drips I did not notice which showed up after the dye had dried. The left the leather darker. Secondly I let the leather dry directly on the green cutting mat. Somehow the wet leather absorbed some of the mat leaving the flesh side slightly green. As most of the flesh side is not visible I only had to dye a new piece for the back cover.

Most of the pieces cut out

The card holder was sew on after the edges had been burnished.

Pricking marks 3mm from the edges was mark

The smallest edge beveler I have is actually too big for the thin leather used. I found that if a angle the beveler slightly back it will take off less material. Getting a totally even edge becomes much harder. Also because the leather is so thin I have to place to leather next to the edge of the cutting mat to make room for the beveler.

On the second piece of the right pocket you only bevel the first few cm on the right side.

The closure strap was made by gluing two pieces together. To get an extra strong bond I applied a thin layer of contact cement and let it dry for 24 hours. Then I applied a second layer and let it dry for around 30 mins.

The edges was sanded to before gluing.

I used a pen with the same diameter as the Faber Castell pen to determine the length of the pen holder.

The strap holder was sewn on the back piece

The pen holder and the strap has to sandwiched between the back piece and the front. This will result in gaps on both side of each. To prevent this I put small pieces of leather in these gaps Here they are glued in place.