Making A Pen Case

July 4, 2015

There are three pockets in total front centre and rear, they are slightly larger than the index cards so they can hold spare cards or used cards as well as anything else around that size. the pen slot does restrict the use of the rear pocket.

The thickness is around 8 mm at present there are 6 thicknesses of leather and 1 piece of kydex I may change the leather and the thread for the next effort

IMG_0614_1 by my0771, on Flickr

Good job this is a sample as the stitching is dreadful

IMG_0615_1 by my0771, on Flickr

IMG_0618_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The next one is going to be in veg tanned leather that I can dye

July 4, 2015

As I was happy with the sample so I made a fresh template and started cutting out some veg tanned leather.

All of the pieces are here including the kydex which is the black bit

IMG_0622_1 by my0771, on Flickr

IMG_0628_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The reason for making a fresh template is that every time I cut out a piece of leather thin slivers of card are removed and the template changes shape.

July 5, 2015

After allowing the leather to almost dry I sewed it together sanded and finished the edges it is a lot neater than my sample

IMG_0637_1 by my0771, on Flickr

IMG_0639_1 by my0771, on Flickr

July 5, 2015

Can't wait for it to arrive, Michael!! You are a magician!!

July 6, 2015

can't you like just buy one?

July 6, 2015

Buying is from levenger primarily.. They do the initials but don't do one with pen sleeve.. Also with the kydex layer you get the firmness which helps to have a good writing surface which you won't get elsewhere.. Michael does all the customizations that I asked for and is very helpful in deciding the right layout and colour, material etc..

So, I think I am doing better by asking Michael to do one for me!!!

July 7, 2015

I have finished sanding the inside of the mould the next stage is to make a test pressing. I made this mould tighter than the previous three pen mould.

Although I still need to get the mould apart once the leather dries out which may be a challenge considering the pressure required to force them together.

IMG_0645_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The marks left on the test piece will show me where the mould is too tight.

Thanks for looking

Michael

July 8, 2015

When sewing a cover there are two options cut first and use the dividers to mark inside the cut line and punch or the method I chose find the edge of the notebook mark around it and then stitch once that is finished use the dividers to mark the cutting lines like in the picture the join the dots up with a steel rule and cut.

IMG_0537_1 by my0771, on Flickr

No need for a late night tonight all four covers are finished and the notebooks are installed

IMG_0540_1 by my0771, on Flickr

They are ready to be wrapped up for my son to deliver tomorrow

Thanks for looking

Michael

Such lovely gifts!

Your inventiveness is utterly impressive Michael!

July 8, 2015

I have a couple of little pieces to tidy up but other than those the case is finished.

I started with this pile of leather

IMG_9888_1 by my0771, on Flickr

And finished up with this

IMG_0586_1 by my0771, on Flickr

This is the sliding catch that caused me so much trouble

IMG_0587_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The edges where the unfinished leather showed through have now been covered in pink leather excuse the finger

IMG_0589_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The pens in those slots are 150 mm long and 21 mm in diameter at the cap so it will hold 20 large pens as well as the two side pockets there is also space on each side for smaller note books.

Thanks for looking

Michael

This is an exquisite piece, your attention to detail is second to none.

It really looks like a perfect mix of vintage hardware as well as traditional leather work techniques on the outside with modern twists (kydex) to build housing for writing objects.

You mention physical limitations, but your boundless creativity and your ability to work on many projects all at once show us a leather artist at work.

Thanks for sharing!

July 8, 2015

Hi Anne-Sophie

Thanks for your comments I appreciate them. I am very proud of the pink and blue case the owner is over the moon with it there is a review on another forum.

The four pen case is moving forward, I took it out of the mould this morning expecting to find gouges in the sides of the leather where the new mould has been too tight.

IMG_0647_1 by my0771, on Flickr

Although there are marks on the leather there are no gouges or breaks in the leather I am really pleased with this it normally takes a couple of attempts.

The main requirement of this project is to make a thin case to hold medium to large size fountain pens

IMG_0649 by my0771, on Flickr

July 8, 2015

To work out the position of the slots for the clips I mocked up a piece of card this is my first attempt I divided the card in half then in half again then for a third time which gave me the correct number of slots but the wrong number of gaps.

IMG_0652_1 by my0771, on Flickr

As I remember I made the same mistake last time it is the gaps that matter for spacing like this

IMG_0653_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The next step is to cut out the slots and transfer the marks to the leather.

July 10, 2015

Now that the outside is well on the way I need to turn my attention to the inside, because of the design of this case only the lower part of the pen is enclosed by the kydex tubes, the rest is covered by the bridge piece which you will see as we progress.

Here is the flat kydex cut from a sheet you can also see the dowel which is 21 mm in diameter there is also a piece of soft leather, the idea is to heat the kydex place the dowel on the edge and wrap the leather around it

IMG_0659_2 by my0771, on Flickr

I have trimmed off the overlap and glued the edges together

IMG_0660_1 by my0771, on Flickr

Warning when kydex is hot it is dangerous if overheated it will become sticky and then it will shrink. It will stick to your skin and it will burn, trust me it is not pleasant.

Next I plan on wrapping the lower interior parts in black suede as they will never be seen I have not decided on the second colour as yet

Thanks for looking

Michael

July 10, 2015

The four kydex tubes are now wrapped in suede they are the same length but have not been trimmed to size yet here you can see them in their outer leather cover.

IMG_0670_1 by my0771, on Flickr

While I had the heat gun out I rolled some extra tubes for other projects

IMG_0681_1 by my0771, on Flickr

This is a single pen case

IMG_0671_2 by my0771, on Flickr

July 11, 2015

I usually buy a new bottle of dye for large projects and use up any remainder on smaller projects, so I opened a fresh bottle of dye to start the four pen case as I was also making an index card holder for the same person I used it for that first, Every time I picked up that case I had dye transfer to my hands despite waxing and polishing I still experienced dye transfer, I tried washing the case with saddle soap today and found the dye was washing off, almost a week after I had applied the dye.

Unfortunately I had just finished dying the four pen case and also a single pen case with that dye so I had to wash them off as well.

I have been trying out some tannery dye recently so I decided to use that instead.

So here is the result of todays labour as well as the front panels shown here there are also rear panels and straps for the flaps

IMG_0704_1 by my0771, on Flickr

IMG_0695_1 by my0771, on Flickr

I had discussed the single pen case with a forum member in black with a silver grey interior and red stitching so I thought I would make one to see what it would look like.

Thanks for looking

Michael

July 12, 2015

Every post is more impressive than the other, sorry for the kynex heat hazard and the dye misadventure.

Have you used this dye before? Why do you think it didn't take?

Very impressive mold and cutting work!

July 12, 2015

Hi Anne-Sophie

I have always used the same dye it is from a large well known company.

Once I have applied the dye I usually rub some carnauba wax into the wet dye it helps to even out the colour (in my opinion) when I did this to the index case I should have realised there was a problem.

IMG_0629_1 by my0771, on Flickr

As you can see most of the dye has gone from this piece, although the dye dried it did not appear to stick to the leather at all there is definitely something missing from this batch

IMG_0709_2 by my0771, on Flickr

Same piece with the tannery dye before polishing unfortunately I had to take the case apart to clean and re dye so I have to sew it all again at least I know it will be right.

July 13, 2015

My daughter and her college physics class have just returned fro a visit to Geneva to see the Large Hadron Collider and also a visit to the U N building, As a thank you to the staff I offered to make some notebook covers.

This is our design often used by the Big Bang T V series which is quite fitting as they are all fans.

IMG_0717_1 by my0771, on Flickr

IMG_0718_1 by my0771, on Flickr

The draw back is they need to be done by Friday