DIY Leather Slip-In Two Pen Pouch

[bphollin]

I'd made a few cloth pen pouches in the past, but their durability and protective powers left something to be desired. I was surprised to find out how cheap and easy it is to make a rugged and attractive leather pen pouch. Printable PDF instructions are attached.

leather_2_pen_slip_in_pouch.pdf

 

Leather Slip-In Two Pen Pouch

 

 

Materials

[*] Two pieces of 3.5-4 oz. leather scrap, 3in x 7in (I picked up my leather at a local Tandy Leather Factory in the scraps bin for about $3).

[*] Heavy-duty sewing thread in complementary color

 

Tools

[*] Sewing machine with heavy-duty needle or specialty leather-sewing needle

[*] Very sharp scissors or exacto knife

[*] Chalk or white colored pencil

[*] Electrical tape

 

Cutting

[1] Print and cut out template in the attached PDF file. My original was drawn on a manila folder for sturdiness and durability.

 

[2] Trace the template twice onto the suede side of your leather using chalk or a white colored pencil.

 

[3] Cut the pieces out using sharp scissors or exacto knife.

 

Sewing

Your sewing machine must be able to sew two pieces of 4 oz leather. Use a wide stitch and relatively loose tension. If the stitch is too small, it will perforate the leather. If the tension is too tight it will break the thread. There are specialty sewing machine needles for piercing and sewing leather, but you should be fine using a heavy-duty jeans and canvas needle.

 

[4] On the face side of the bottom piece of leather, put electrical tape a quarter of an inch from the edge on the left, right, and bottom sides. This will prevent the presser foot from scratching/damaging the leather as it draws along.

 

[5] Sew along the left, bottom, and right sides, 1/8 inch from the edge of the leather. You may wish to tape the two pieces of leather together so they don’t shift while sewing. It may be safer to advance the needle manually rather than with the foot pedal. This ensures the needle or thread won’t break, and it will be easier to follow along the curved bottom. Double back 2 or 3 times at the start and end so the thread doesn’t unravel.

 

[6] Mark a vertical center line whose top is even with the beginning and end stitch from Step 5 and whose bottom is even with the stitch 1/8 inch from the bottom of the pouch. Put a strip of electrical tape on both sides as in Step 4.

Sew the bisecting center stitch, doubling back two or three times at the start and end so the thread doesn’t unravel.

 

Closing thoughts

The measurements here fit a Pelikan M600 and Lamy Al-Star fountain pen. You may need to adjust height and width according to your pens or preference (experiment by sewing together manila folders). At first it was a snug fit, but after a few weeks it has broken in nicely. If you are worried about the leather suede tarnishing your pen hardware, you can line the pouch using leather/cloth interface and a non-abrasive lining material. It is easiest to dislodge the pen by squeezing at the bottom of the pouch until enough of the cap is exposed to pull the entire pen out. Enjoy!

 

http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/88x31.png _{Distributed with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license (Use, copy, and adapt this work, but if you alter, transform, or build upon it, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.) Made by bphollin for www.fountainpennetwork.com, 2009}

[APPLEMAN]

Very cool Thanks for sharing this.

 

Chris

 

 

 

I'd made a few cloth pen pouches in the past, but their durability and protective powers left something to be desired. I was surprised to find out how cheap and easy it is to make a rugged and attractive leather pen pouch. Printable PDF instructions are attached.

leather_2_pen_slip_in_pouch.pdf

 

Leather Slip-In Two Pen Pouch

 

 

Materials

[*] Two pieces of 3.5-4 oz. leather scrap, 3in x 7in (I picked up my leather at a local Tandy Leather Factory in the scraps bin for about $3).

[*] Heavy-duty sewing thread in complementary color

 

Tools

[*] Sewing machine with heavy-duty needle or specialty leather-sewing needle

[*] Very sharp scissors or exacto knife

[*] Chalk or white colored pencil

[*] Electrical tape

 

Cutting

[1] Print and cut out template in the attached PDF file. My original was drawn on a manila folder for sturdiness and durability.

 

[2] Trace the template twice onto the suede side of your leather using chalk or a white colored pencil.

 

[3] Cut the pieces out using sharp scissors or exacto knife.

 

Sewing

Your sewing machine must be able to sew two pieces of 4 oz leather. Use a wide stitch and relatively loose tension. If the stitch is too small, it will perforate the leather. If the tension is too tight it will break the thread. There are specialty sewing machine needles for piercing and sewing leather, but you should be fine using a heavy-duty jeans and canvas needle.

 

[4] On the face side of the bottom piece of leather, put electrical tape a quarter of an inch from the edge on the left, right, and bottom sides. This will prevent the presser foot from scratching/damaging the leather as it draws along.

 

[5] Sew along the left, bottom, and right sides, 1/8 inch from the edge of the leather. You may wish to tape the two pieces of leather together so they don’t shift while sewing. It may be safer to advance the needle manually rather than with the foot pedal. This ensures the needle or thread won’t break, and it will be easier to follow along the curved bottom. Double back 2 or 3 times at the start and end so the thread doesn’t unravel.

 

[6] Mark a vertical center line whose top is even with the beginning and end stitch from Step 5 and whose bottom is even with the stitch 1/8 inch from the bottom of the pouch. Put a strip of electrical tape on both sides as in Step 4.

Sew the bisecting center stitch, doubling back two or three times at the start and end so the thread doesn’t unravel.

 

Closing thoughts

The measurements here fit a Pelikan M600 and Lamy Al-Star fountain pen. You may need to adjust height and width according to your pens or preference (experiment by sewing together manila folders). At first it was a snug fit, but after a few weeks it has broken in nicely. If you are worried about the leather suede tarnishing your pen hardware, you can line the pouch using leather/cloth interface and a non-abrasive lining material. It is easiest to dislodge the pen by squeezing at the bottom of the pouch until enough of the cap is exposed to pull the entire pen out. Enjoy!

 

http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/88x31.png _{Distributed with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license (Use, copy, and adapt this work, but if you alter, transform, or build upon it, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.) Made by bphollin for www.fountainpennetwork.com, 2009}

 

[APPLEMAN]

Made a couple today and they were great.

 

Thanks again for the patt.

 

Chris

[momo]

 

Very cool indeed! Good work.

[Phthalo]

Great effort! I've added this to our pinned DIY projects thread.

[bphollin]

Great effort! I've added this to our pinned DIY projects thread.

Aww, shucks... I'm flattered. Enjoy!

[Inkapable]

This is very nice. I hadn't seen this the first time the thread came around.

 

Has your having to squeeze the barrel end out of the pouch changed any of your pens' finishes? I am asking because people have cautioned against using tight materials against pens (the elastic loops in the usual notebook-type pen pouch apparently abrade some materials).

 

Thank you for having given the pattern out for fair use.

[bphollin]

This is very nice.... Thank you for having given the pattern out for fair use.

How nice of you to say, and you're welcome.

 

Has your having to squeeze the barrel end out of the pouch changed any of your pens' finishes?

Not that I've noticed. Once the pens break in to the leather they become much easier to dislodge. At this point I'm not squeezing the bottoms to get the pens out. It has struck just the right balance of being snug enough to keep the pens from moving around and loose enough to get them out when I want. Edited April 1, 2009 by bphollin

[goodbee]

Great pattern - simple enough to cut and sew up in a short time. Very nice.

[Balog]

Hmmm, if I didn't have access to a sewing machine (and know from hard experience my own sewing is super ugly) do you think I could bribe you into making one for me? Maybe trade for a Reform 1745 or some empty Waterman bottles? Just a thought......

[zwack]

Some possible changes that you might note...

 

1) If you want to hold the leather together while you're sewing it the traditional response is to use either contact adhesive or rubber cement. This keeps the leather in place.

 

2) If you're sewing by hand then you can get a much stronger stitch and a much neater finish by using a few extra tools. Sewing machines do a lockstitch so if the thread breaks on one side then it will be loose on both sides and can start unraveling. Handstitched leather usually uses a two needle technique, so if the thread breaks on one side the other side is still holding. You can also add to the durability by getting a stitching groover and cutting a small groove in the leather which the stitching sits in. This lowers the thread so it's less likely to be rubbed in normal usage. Finally, an overstitch wheel can be used to mark the leather at the points at which the thread should go through making your stitching much neater.

 

3) If you are worried about the tight fit and you are using veg tanned leather (look at the middle of the thickness of the leather, if it's pinkish it's veg tanned, if it's grey it's chrome tanned) then you can adjust the fit very easily. Soak it in water for a few minutes then place either the pen wrapped in cling film or a rod of a similar dimension inside the leather case and let it dry. When it dries it will be a snug fit. It will loosen up a little over time, but it should still be good.

 

I hope that this helps.

 

Z.

 

p.s. For stitching leather with a double needle technique, you only really need one needle and an awl. First punch a hole with the awl, then draw the thread through the hole. Punch the next hole and draw the thread back through it. Keep going until you have a row of stitching all the way around. The thread will come and go in the line. Now you go back through all of the holes with the needle and thread in the opposite direction. This will fill in the gaps in the stitching so it looks like a long continuous row of thread. Leather work needles are usually blunt which is why you need the awl. When you get back to the start, stitch back down a few holes and then tie the ends together. I usually have the ends coming out from between the two pieces of leather, so the knot is actually sandwiched between the leather.

[ImperialSheaffer]

An idea of what it can look like when finished:

 

http://www.hisnibs.com/images/Hero/HeroDoublePenCaseFull.jpg

[jmkeuning]

An idea of what it can look like when finished:

 

http://www.hisnibs.com/images/Hero/HeroDoublePenCaseFull.jpg

 

not at all

[Dalemont]

Thanks for posting these instructions! They will be very helpful.

[WanderingAuthor]

This looks interesting, but I do have one concern. I recall reading something about using leather with certain types of pens. I think the concern was with chrome tanned leather, that a chemical reaction could affect certain materials. I'm not sure about this, but wanted to note it and ask about it. If anyone knows more about the issue, I hope they'll post.

[KrazyIvan]

Actually made one really similar without knowing it. I used my Sensa pen/pencil case as a model.

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5184/5689319846_641236c3bf_m.jpg

The Experiment 1 by IvanRomero, on Flickr

[Caligrafo]

Thanks for posting this. Easy to make, really, and very useful. I will try it!

[Runnin_Ute]

Since you are going to the Tandy store anyway, another way to do this would be like the leather projects I remember from junior high school. (wallet, belt etc) Just lace it up with leather product. Just buy the correct amount of leather and lacing.