Making A Pen Case

[my63]

I have been thinking about how the leather piece would fit onto the grey board structure

 

IMG_0370_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Well as you can see it turned out fairly well

 

I need to decide how I am going to sew the pockets in place my original plan was to sew them to the leather first and then stick the leather to the grey board, however the leather stretches when the glue is applied. So my new plan is to stick everything together (tick) and sew through the leather and the grey board in one go.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Michael

[my63]

Today I have sewn around the pockets on the outer sides let me try to explain

 

Please engage imagination

The piece lying flat in the front of the picture will be attached to the inside of the case wall these are the only two pieces of the insert that will be attached to the case itself

 

IMG_0371_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_0373_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The upright sections must be restricted to prevent them from moving too far apart my original plan was to fit a piece of leather into the triangular shaped gap, Unfortunately this would prevent the case closing correctly so I am looking for an alternative method of achieving this.

 

My other current project is this single pen case I have been awaiting the green thread to allow me to complete this case

 

IMG_0374_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_0377_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

All sewn together now I just need to finish the edges and cut and dye the thong and it will be finished.

 

Two for one update today

[Namo]

Whaaaaaa! Beautiful case, Michael. Can't wait to see it "in the flesh".

[my63]

Thanks Namo you will be seeing it pretty soon I have sanded dyed and polished the edges and dyed the inside of the lid black

 

IMG_0379_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I will let everything dry for 24 hours give it a final polish and pack it ready for posting

Edited June 5, 2015 by my63

[my63]

Here are the pictures of the finished case

 

IMG_0405_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_0403_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_0398_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

 

Michael

[my63]

My son is about to leave high school 2 years ago when my daughter left high school I made some custom boxes with fountain pens and inks.

Although I could still make boxes I thought note book covers in leather may be an interesting option.

 

IMG_0408_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

From blank grey board I printed out a design of a shamrock unfortunately the design was a little more complex than I first thought so some of the inside detail had to be removed, I would not have been too unhappy about this had I not spent two hours cutting it all out with a scalpel first.

 

IMG_0410_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_0414_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have four in total to make so I had better get on with it

[my63]

The next step in this project is to add the front cover

 

IMG_0421_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The wet leather was applied to the grey board and moulded to the shape then removed and glue was applied to the still damp leather and board.

As the leather dried out I applied carnauba wax to the leather to help it mould to the shape and remain soft there is a risk of the leather and board cupping especially around the corners so I let it dry overnight face down with a notebook on top.

 

The next step is to make the inside

[my63]

back to my background project this is what I do when I am waiting for things to dry as there is a lot of sewing involved and I can only do so much at a time.

Anyway those who are following may remember that the outer piece as well as being inside out is also in two pieces well today is the day that I start to make those into one piece.
The challenge is the pieces are over size because the top needs to turn over to allow the metalwork to attach to the case, this means I cannot start sewing at the edge I need to start in the middle with two pieces of thread and four needles going in different directions.
This picture shows the bottom of the case I have tacked and glued the piping in place

 

IMG_0428_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Here is a sneak peak at the inside

 

IMG_0427_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The red lines are my guide lines for the actual size and the centre line which I have used in construction these will be covered by more pink leather once the sewing is completed.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Michael

[my63]

Last night I cut out the rough shapes for the gussets this morning I have refined the shape and turned the edges to give a little more strength

 

IMG_0430_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

After soaking the pieces in cold water I folded them up in the original pieces the idea being that as the pink pieces dry they will take on the shape of the original pieces.

 

IMG_0431_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

More to follow

[my63]

After a few hours the pink leather has taken on the shape and the texture of the old leather gusset piece

 

IMG_0434_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

These are the next pieces to be joined together the gusset pieces are joined at the bottom initially once the case is inverted the edges will be sewn up

 

IMG_0435_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The inner section fits inside which is a relief I still need to find a way to resolve the issue of the inner piece moving around inside gluing the bottom in place is my current favourite option

 

IMG_0438_1 by my0771, on Flickr

[my63]

It is almost time for the moment of truth turning the case the right way around I have applied the leather lining to the outside which will become the inside

 

IMG_0440_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The next step is to soak the whole case in water which will allow the leather to become soft enough to be turned inside out this will put the nice blue leather on the outside.

 

I have to be feeling brave to do this as I am pretty sure I could ruin all of the work I have done so far

[my63]

Ok so I have taken a deep breath and soaked the outer section of the case, this is what it looked like before I started turning it the right way around

 

IMG_0446_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is what it looks like now

 

IMG_0448_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The case needs to dry slowly and be re shaped as it dries good job it is a lovely warm day here

 

Whilst I was busy I soaked a strip of pink leather to wrap this

 

IMG_0443_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The leather is wet and needs to be glued to the metal frame which I think will best be done dry so once the leather is dry I will remove it and apply the glue.

 

Thanks for looking

Michael

Edited June 10, 2015 by my63

[my63]

I have been considering for some time how best to re assemble the metal frame with the handle and lock assemblies, I took them apart carefully however I noticed that one of them had a crack in the folding metal tab that secured it in place.

 

There are three lock assemblies the centre with the catch and the two outer ones which are sliding type catches it was one of the outer catches which was cracked.

 

IMG_0454_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

As you can see the re assembly went well, well almost the little clip held for almost one hour before disappearing,

 

IMG_0456_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is my solution yes it is a bolt and nut however the diameter of the bolt is 1 mm I had to use pliers to pick it up, I drilled a hole through the lock under the sliding piece so when closed the head of the bolt would not be seen.

Getting the nut on took some time and some choice language but I got there eventually.

 

The white stitching on the handle which I thought would take on the blue dye but it did not so I have ordered some blue thread I will re sew it when it arrives.

 

part two will follow later

Edited June 12, 2015 by my63

[Namo]

[/url]IMG_0374_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_0377_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

All sewn together now I just need to finish the edges and cut and dye the thong and it will be finished.

 

Two for one update today

Sent on Monday, received on Friday, from UK to Eastern Canada!

Beautiful work! Impressive! Thank you, Micheal, both for your work and your kindness. It's a privilege to have such a pen case, both beautiful and useful.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Namo

[Namo]

Here are the pictures of the finished case

 

IMG_0405_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_0403_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

IMG_0398_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

 

Michael

Sorry for the double post: but these are the pics of the finished work of Michael.

[stonezebra]

The white stitching on the handle which I thought would take on the blue dye but it did not so I have ordered some blue thread I will re sew it when it arrives.

 

Actually I rather like the white stitching, nice contrast. Love the color combo more every time I see it. Great job!

[my63]

Thanks Namo I cant believe it arrived so quickly I sent a similar case to the USA the week before and it has not arrived yet.

 

Stonezebra I have to agree when I was first asked for a blue case with pink piping I was unsure however it really does look good

 

IMG_0462_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_0464_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_0453_1 by my0771, on Flickr

[fountainpagan]

This is a great job you are doing there, Michael. Personally I dislike pink, but love to follow the ongoing work in progress, and can hardly wait to see it finished.

The pen case looks good, too, You are improving!

Congratulaitions.

[my63]

Thanks fountainpagan I appreciate the comments

 

I think I have shared the early progress of this case here the origin was a three pen case I made for an fpn member there were two cases and the first two did not work so I had the shells and was asked to make a thin version, so I used one of the shells to create this.

The case holds three M B 149 sized pens totally encased in kydex tubes and is only 40 mm thick.

 

IMG_0481_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The pen slots are wrapped in yellow nappa leather but as I did not have enough for the inside of the flap I dyed my own piece of leather to match.

Unfortunately I managed to get a speck of red dye on the inside flap which is a bit of a shame

 

IMG_0475_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking

 

Michael

[my63]

I freely admit I have been slacking on this project I don't have one finished as yet and this is the last week so the shamrock front piece is finished the next two front pieces will be roses the fourth cover will be embossed initials.

 

The starting point is the same grey board 1 mm thick I found a suitable image of a rose and printed off two images for each cover after cutting out the basic outline I stuck one to a scrap of leather and the other to the grey board, this is to make locating the leather rose simple.

 

IMG_0482_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I spent a long time with a scalpel cutting them out

IMG_0485_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This picture shows all the stages brought together grey board with the image glued to it with the leather cut out glued to that

 

IMG_0489_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Now all that has been done I can start thinking about cutting some leather