First major project

[somewhereinusa]

I've been lurking here for a while, picking up ideas.My first projects were some dog collars, because I couldn't find anyone to make what I wanted.(Boy were those things expensive when I got done)

I have a friend that is an author, soooo every author needs a journal, right? I have no idea if she actually uses one. Anyway, I wanted to make something a little fancier than a piece of leather with a cord wrapped around it. I also wanted to make it refillable in case she actually uses it. I couldn't find any kind of notebook refill that was exactly what I wanted the end product to be like. Why do the marketers think that we all want cheap, or something like everyone else. (Do you know that you cant buy a pickup truck with all of the niceties and rubber floor mats ,instead of carpet, so that it's easier to wash out the brown stuff?)

I found some really nice 32# cotton paper that looks nice, then I had to learn how to bind that together into a notebook. I had also never run a sewing macnine before. The leather binding on the notebook part looks nice, but even 2oz is to stiff, and I had one dropped stitch in a real obvious place. This is what I ended up with. All in all I'm quite pleased with the end result. I've got a whole lot of ideas for more projects, but the day job gets in the way, since I'm only home about 2 days every 2 weeks.

Comments welcome.

[ETW Grumpy]

That's very nicely done. You've discovered the heart of leatherwork, imho. Making things because nobody else makes what you want, innovation, a willingness to try new things, etc. You also learned a little about bookbinding and sewing machines. Very cool. Keep posting pics of your work. This is a great resource.

[Timd]

That's pretty sharp