johnggrg Report post Posted July 21, 2011 Hi everyone! I have a question. I am making a journal for my daughter. I cut an H shaped leather peice and made the H 11 inches long by 1 inch wide( that's the walls of the H that is). Two ends of the H will be sewed on the back of the journal and the other two ends will have snaps that will attach to the front cover. My question is this. Does anyone know how I can shape the ends of the 1 inch straps to look nice? A decrative cut of some kind? I don't have a strap end cutter and can't buy one at the moment. I was hoping to at least shape the ends that are getting sewed on. But would like it to have a decrative shape. Not sure how to do this. tried a bottle cap but that seemed a little hard to make the same for all the ends. Any thoughts or is there a pattern I can use for this? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 21, 2011 Basicly trying to think of a way to cut the 1 inch strap ends to look nice instead of plain square ends. Anyone??? John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ferg Report post Posted July 21, 2011 View a photo/image of the end of a belt you like, replicate it by cutting with an Exacto knife. Done that many, many times before buying the chisels. ferg Basicly trying to think of a way to cut the 1 inch strap ends to look nice instead of plain square ends. Anyone??? John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 22, 2011 Thanks for the response Ferg. I was thinking about that but can't seem to find a good picture of one in a shape that looks good. Most belts have a round or pointed end. I was thinking about the old iron hinges that had what looked like a clover type end to it or something like that. Just haven't been able to find a good picture that I could use to print out the right size. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtclod Report post Posted July 22, 2011 Draw / trace your H onto a piece of paper and start drawing using different shaped washers, coins or a compass till you come up with something you like and trace that onto your leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 22, 2011 dirtclod thank you for the reply. I've been doing that and just haven't come up with anything good. In a way I messed up. I stamped the cover with ALOT of designs and shapes wich look really intricate. Now the closure looks to plain. Don't get me wrong the cover looks good to me but now need to figure out what to do with this closure straps. Talk about getting a headache. It's really holding me up on this project. If I do a rounded emd or just a pointed end it will not go with the rest of the journal. Kinda backed my self into a corner on this. Like I said two ends will be sewed on the back but will have to bend when closing it. That's where cutting that area becomes a problem. Each tab is 1 inch wide by 2 inches long have to allow for the bending when closing a little. That is why I thought to ask the pro's what they might do. Oh on the back side(or inside when opened) of the H I sewed a thin piece of leather for a pen or pencil to go. Thought maybe someone has done one like this before. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WinterBear Report post Posted July 22, 2011 Can you post a picture? The folks here might be better able to give you an idea if they had a better understanding of what it looks like and what you are trying to do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ferg Report post Posted July 22, 2011 Go to one of the cabinet hardware sites and checkout the miniature hinges, hasps, etc. We used to use them in our wood shop business all the time. Van Dyke's Restorers may have a lot of what you are looking for. ferg dirtclod thank you for the reply. I've been doing that and just haven't come up with anything good. In a way I messed up. I stamped the cover with ALOT of designs and shapes wich look really intricate. Now the closure looks to plain. Don't get me wrong the cover looks good to me but now need to figure out what to do with this closure straps. Talk about getting a headache. It's really holding me up on this project. If I do a rounded emd or just a pointed end it will not go with the rest of the journal. Kinda backed my self into a corner on this. Like I said two ends will be sewed on the back but will have to bend when closing it. That's where cutting that area becomes a problem. Each tab is 1 inch wide by 2 inches long have to allow for the bending when closing a little. That is why I thought to ask the pro's what they might do. Oh on the back side(or inside when opened) of the H I sewed a thin piece of leather for a pen or pencil to go. Thought maybe someone has done one like this before. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 22, 2011 WinterBear kid busted my camera so that is out. As far as what it looks like. The closure for the journal is shaped like a very wide H. The tabs are 2 inches long by 1 inch wide. Ferg I will look there and see if anything will work. Thank you both for taking the time to help me out. If anyone has an idea please feel free to post. Thank you. john Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 23, 2011 Ok here is what I did. I wish I had a camera so you could see what I did but I will try to explain. First I rounded the ends of the tabs. Then used a cd and put one end at the point of the rounded edge and the other at the edge of the center strip or long part of the H. It ended up looking like a double sided axe on both ends of the H. Looks better then I thought it would. Now that I have done that. I need to attach it to the journal. One question I have is this. Since it has to bend around the end of the journal. Should I but it up against the edge of the journal and sew it on or should I leave a little gap between the edge of the journal and the H before sewing it on? I hope you understand what I mean. I wish I wouldn't have let the kid use the camera. Would REALLY come in handy right now. Let me know what you think. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wishful Report post Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) I just saw this post so I may be a little late now if you are done with the design. But, I cam across these straps on etsy and thought they would be great for a girls journal or bag. Here is the link Gina purse frame - I dont know the maker just came across the image and liked it. EDIT I Think I got the images now... Edited July 23, 2011 by Wishful Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 23, 2011 (edited) Wishful Thank you for the reply. Those would work. But yes I have finished the closure and am now thinking on how to attach it. I am going to sew it on the back and use a snap on the front. My only problem is not sure if it should be butted up against the edge before I sew it on or leave a little gap between the closure and the edge of the journal???? It will have to bend at that point so any thoughts??? Please let me know if anyone has done this before and how you did it. Thank you. John PS. Trying to figure this out before adding the lining to it. Thought the snap and stitched area would be better if it were under the lining. Edited July 23, 2011 by johnggrg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 25, 2011 I am going to sew it on the back and use a snap on the front. """""""My only problem is not sure if it should be butted up against the edge before I sew it on or leave a little gap between the closure and the edge of the journal????""""""""" It will have to bend at that point so any thoughts??? Please let me know if anyone has done this before and how you did it. Thank you. John anyone??????????i SEEN SOMEWHERE ON HERE THAT SOMEONE ELSE MADE A CLOSURE JUST LIKE THIS. THOUGHT SOMEONE MIGHT KNOW. Waiting till someone can let me know before I attach it which I am ready to do so please let me know. Thank you. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alb Report post Posted July 25, 2011 It's unclear from your post, what you are asking. If you could find a picture with an example of what you want to do, we could answer specific questions about that. Ann I am going to sew it on the back and use a snap on the front. """""""My only problem is not sure if it should be butted up against the edge before I sew it on or leave a little gap between the closure and the edge of the journal????""""""""" It will have to bend at that point so any thoughts??? Please let me know if anyone has done this before and how you did it. Thank you. John anyone??????????i SEEN SOMEWHERE ON HERE THAT SOMEONE ELSE MADE A CLOSURE JUST LIKE THIS. THOUGHT SOMEONE MIGHT KNOW. Waiting till someone can let me know before I attach it which I am ready to do so please let me know. Thank you. John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WinterBear Report post Posted July 25, 2011 If you look at most high end journals and diaries with a closure, there IS a little gap. It isn't butted up flush and tight against the edge of the front and back boards of the book (the cover), so the slight excess bows away from the edges of the book slightly. The reason being that pages get a little warped when they are written on. Not by much, but some, so the book gets minutely "thicker". It also allows a little bit of expansion if the journal owner tucks a pressed flower or a picture or three in there. That little bit of free play prevents the closure and the closure tab that goes from the back to the front cover from being over-strained. It also allows for a pen to be tucked under the closure tab in the gap between the covers and the page edges, which most journal owners seem to do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnggrg Report post Posted July 25, 2011 Thank you for the reply Ann. The closure for the Journal is shaped like a very wide letter H. There are four tabs if you look at the letter H. Two tabs on one side will be sewn on the back cover. The second two tabs will have snaps that will attach to the front cover of the journal. WinterBear thank you very much. That is exactly what I wanted to know. As soon as I can get a camera I will post some pics. Thanks again everyone! John Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
