Homemade "midori"-Style Leather Notebook

[elderberry]

A few days ago my first Midori traveler's notebook arrived at my doorstep and before it even arrived I already had some ideas how you could make something like that yourself in the size and colour you preferred. My boyfriend is working with leather for a living so he could provide materials, tools and expertise. There was also some leather lying around that had attracted my attention for a long time, so we got started right away.

 

What I like about the Midoris and wanted to keep is the simplicistic approach and how refills can be inserted easily. However in the "full size" format refills can only be purchased directly from Midori or hand-cut yourself. For home use I also preferred something a little broader, so I settled for a standard A5 size.

 

Here's the homemade book next to the original Midori for size comparison. They're the same length, the homemade one is somewhat broader.

 

Like the original Midori, it can be closed with a rubber string. These are also essential to keep the refills in place. They can be found at hobby shops, as can the pearls.

 

The leather is heavily oiled full-hide water buffalo in chocolate brown. It's a thick and originally fairly stiff leather which has gained suppleness (to a certain degree) through the oiling. It's usually used for belts but also makes for a supreme notebook. It's silky and somehow soft to the touch and will show colour variation when distressed or scratched. The leather used in the original Midori notebooks is quite similarly treated but seems to be cowhide and is somewhat thinner too.

 

Refills can be easily inserted and removed with rubber strings. At Midori books the strings are gathered together with a special closure, I didn't have access to one of those so I used a tiger's eye pearl from the hobby shop. I also decided to gather the strings at the bottom side of the book for it would look nicer.

 

A look at both books from the upside. Since the leather used in the homemade book is a little stiffer and thicker the edges are trimmed so they will feel rounded to the touch. In this places the leather appears lighter but will darken over time and with use.

 

The book would be able to take up to 5 inserts, depending on their thickness. At the moment it houses a Leuchtturm flexible notebook (110 pages) and 2 slimmer notebooks around 60 pages. As with the Midori you could add all kinds of stuff to the insides of the back and front cover.

 

Going writing now.

[Lorna Reed]

Fantastic. I think your home-made one is better. :clap1: :clap1: :clap1:

[elderberry]

A match made in heaven: The book with a Nakaya Piccolo in shiro-tamenuri.

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/5049/picsay1331480685.jpg

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[reprieve]

A match made in heaven: The book with a Nakaya Piccolo in shiro-tamenuri.

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/5049/picsay1331480685.jpg

 

The handmade notebook looks fantastic--even better than the Midori! I love the photo with your Piccolo. A match made in heaven indeed.

[staypuft02]

wow, nice job!! your notebook looks awesome i think widening to an A5 size was a great call too-- my only trepidation about getting the midori was it's relatively narrow width, given its height (reminded me of a large checkbook)... i've actually gone ahead and purchased one, but it hasn't arrived yet. i'm keeping my fingers crossed i'll get used to the narrow size!

[Zanshin]

Lovely job. That's a really nice piece of leather.

 

I've done the same thing, based around Oxford PopNotes notebooks which are 90 x 140mm and use Optik paper. Nicely pocketable and the refills are readily available in the UK for les than a pound whereas Midori refills are nearly four pounds each.

 

The one design change I made was to take the elastic closure out through spine rather than through the centre of the rear cover so you haven't got that lump in the middle when you write.

[elderberry]

Nice books! Putting the closure in the spine is a neat idea. Mine does have it in the back but not in the center so it won't hinder writing either.

[KrazyIvan]

Very nice job. You could probably sell them without problems if you wanted to.

[nicholasyeo]

Nice handiwork! I usually buy Midori Traveller notebooks when the sale is on,

so I don't really bother about the price. But this does make me feel like getting

a good piece of leather and starting my own little project!

[nicholasyeo]

Nice books! Putting the closure in the spine is a neat idea. Mine does have it in the back but not in the center so it won't hinder writing either.

 

Reminds me of "Ciak" notebooks. Pretty nice closure!

[elderberry]

In fact I am - or rather my boyfriend is since he is doing most of the work - considering putting some up for sale at classifieds. He has made some more in different colours, like black and cognac. He's probably going to make some pictures later today.

 

I have already modified mine a bit since I now got better and thicker elastic strings in brown. Matches much better.

Edited March 17, 2012 by elderberry

[UncleJoe420]

Where did you guys get your leather from? Would love to get some decent thick leather to make a Midori-style cover to put some of my Moleskine cahiers n volants in..

[elderberry]

The leather Zanshin used for his books looks like 1.5 mm cowhide like it's used for furniture or robust bags. Sometimes hobby shops carry small pieces of this kind of leather. Leather stores sometimes carry scraps but often only the full hides which are huge and thus expensive. It's often rather soft leather and can be cut with scissors. It's also less rugged than firmer and stiffer leather.

 

The leather I've used is from a tannery and can usually be had at leather supplies with a larger range. It's a rather expensive leather. My retailer sells them in half croupons (half a hide and the inferior edges cut away) which is still quite a large piece. It's stiffer and needs to be cut with a knife. You would also need some leather working tools to make it bend at the spine and make the edges look nice. It's exhausting to work on but rewarding.

[UncleJoe420]

The leather Zanshin used for his books looks like 1.5 mm cowhide like it's used for furniture or robust bags. Sometimes hobby shops carry small pieces of this kind of leather. Leather stores sometimes carry scraps but often only the full hides which are huge and thus expensive. It's often rather soft leather and can be cut with scissors. It's also less rugged than firmer and stiffer leather.

 

The leather I've used is from a tannery and can usually be had at leather supplies with a larger range. It's a rather expensive leather. My retailer sells them in half croupons (half a hide and the inferior edges cut away) which is still quite a large piece. It's stiffer and needs to be cut with a knife. You would also need some leather working tools to make it bend at the spine and make the edges look nice. It's exhausting to work on but rewarding.

 

Aah - thanks for the info, Elderberry! Am thinking I may have to go with maybe leatherette with a card inside cover, if I can't find anywhere locally that sells proper leather..

[jimhughes]

Stateside, leather like this is available at Tandy's Leather. I've not checked to see if they have a web site. They have leather , leather work tools and the like. In the early 70's they and Radio Shack we're owned by the same group.

It is a heavy leather, mostly only available in 1/2 hides and is fairly expensive. Jim

[Zanshin]

The leather Zanshin used for his books looks like 1.5 mm cowhide like it's used for furniture or robust bags. Sometimes hobby shops carry small pieces of this kind of leather. Leather stores sometimes carry scraps but often only the full hides which are huge and thus expensive. It's often rather soft leather and can be cut with scissors. It's also less rugged than firmer and stiffer leather.

 

The leather I've used is from a tannery and can usually be had at leather supplies with a larger range. It's a rather expensive leather. My retailer sells them in half croupons (half a hide and the inferior edges cut away) which is still quite a large piece. It's stiffer and needs to be cut with a knife. You would also need some leather working tools to make it bend at the spine and make the edges look nice. It's exhausting to work on but rewarding.

 

Aah - thanks for the info, Elderberry! Am thinking I may have to go with maybe leatherette with a card inside cover, if I can't find anywhere locally that sells proper leather..

 

 

Yes, Elderberry got it right. The black one is about 1.5mm cowhide and was my first attempt, purely for my own use. The brown one, or rather ones as I made two for my kids, is a thicker piece and slightly stiffer.

 

I got the leather as offcuts from eBay but most of the stuff I see listed there is either upholstery leather and very soft or much stiffer tanned leather and too thick. I looked at a variety of leather suppliers websites but, not being particularly knowledgeable about leather, I didn't really know what sort of leather I would need and didn't want to go to the expense of buying a large piece for this experiment. I think I was lucky and ended up with a couple of pieces that seem vaguely durable, although I did have one or two others that were not at all suitable.

[UncleJoe420]

Ok, this may seem like a somewhat odd question to ask, in regards to a leather-covered Midori homage, but if I made one with a silk cover, would that still be considered a Midori-esque notebook?

[elderberry]

It wouldn't feel like that for me, but it would certainly be nice! Would you sew the silk over cardboard or something like that? I can't really imagine a silk cover without anything to make the book a bit more stiff and rugged.

[UncleJoe420]

It wouldn't feel like that for me, but it would certainly be nice! Would you sew the silk over cardboard or something like that? I can't really imagine a silk cover without anything to make the book a bit more stiff and rugged.

 

Aah - fair point! In that case, am sure I've got enough leatherette fabric instead that I can use!!

[elderberry]

Do post a picture when you're done sewing!