Making A Pen Case

[Anne-Sophie]

 

Indeed, I was wondering about the shine, I assumed you were in your workshop using  a very bright light but, it was the sun!

 

Stupendous idea to use briefcases and If I remember it well, purses' pen slots inserts as a new pen case design.  

[my63]

The red leather insert was the prototype, The actual insert is going to be in this black nappa leather which is very fine.

 

2023-02-21_10-05-37 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The yellow chalk marks out the location of the pen slots, In order to reduce seams or joints the main backing piece is a single piece of leather, The flap and the back of the pen slots is also a seperate piece lined in suede.

 

2023-02-21_10-05-56 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I transferred the chalk maks onto the suede to allow the pen slots to be stitched in the correct place.

 

[Anne-Sophie]

So lovely and inventive! Thank you for sharing!

[my63]

I don't really do much to mark anniversaries as such, other than family,  I am not that bad. Anyway I started this thread in October 2013 almost 10 years ago. I wanted to mark this by showing what I was doing in 2013.

I did plan to start this in January but i was not really well enough. Today I am going to share something from January and February and will try to post things each month throughout the year.

 

January 2013

 

IMG_9578 by my0771, on Flickr

 

It had been a cutlery box in its previous life. I will come back to this in September when I did something with it. I also made this Parker 51 pen box.

 

IMG_9668 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I had been messing about with boxes repurposing them in February 2013 I was asked to make one from scratch, I am not going to share all of the pictures as the full story is on my blog.

 

IMG_9817 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is the frame 25mm oak with a strip of walnut around the edge for the lid the piceces were glued together before mitering. The lid is burr or burl walnut veneer. The walnut edge was scraped down not sanded to the same height as the veneer.

 

IMG_9873 by my0771, on Flickr

 

On the final day of Feb I made some trays.

 

IMG_9908 by my0771, on Flickr

 

IMG_9911 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

 

So lovely! Thank you for sharing Michael!

[my63]

Back to the seven pen case. 

After marking where the pen slots will go, I added some double sided tape along the lines and positioned the leather to form the slots. After this i stitched them in place.

 

2023-03-03_11-15-24 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Once the slots were done, I started looking at the side panels here you can see the triangular board I have cut as a template, this would need to be cut in half to give each side half of the end panel.

 

2023-03-03_11-15-39 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The end panels have been stitched and dry fitted to the inner boards. Having glued both the boards and the inside of the leather the difficult part was bringing them together without them touching.

 

2023-03-03_11-14-57 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I did eventually get the two parts together.

 

2023-03-03_11-14-16 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I still need to make something inside to keep the shape when in stand mode but allow it to fold flat to fit in the case, which I need to make next  

[Anne-Sophie]

A truly unique design!

 

I love your solution to keep it upright.

[my63]

The seven pen case has taken way longer to make than I planned, our home being flooded has had an impact.

I have some really nice black Italian veg tanned leather so I am going to use some of this for the outer case.

 

2023-03-21_07-42-18 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Cut and trimmed to shape, this is a trial fit of the lock mechanism.

 

2023-03-21_07-43-01 by my0771, on Flickr

 

After cutting and thinning the gusset panel I put all of the pieces together.

 

2023-03-21_07-43-13 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Fitting the lock is going to be difficult as it only has one position.  You can see I have made a disc to fit the lock into, It would usually go into the front panel and have a protective piece of leather behind it. I dont want that for this case as the pen stand is going to slot into the case. This disc solves that issue and meand the metal body of the lock is no where near the pens.

You can also see if you look closely the lines wher the stitching will holes will be punched.

 

2023-03-21_07-43-23 by my0771, on Flickr

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

Are you and your family ok, Michael?

 

The pen cases are stunning!

[my63]

Thanks Anne-Sophie it has been difficult. Water does so much damage. 

[Anne-Sophie]

9 hours ago, my63 said:

Thanks Anne-Sophie it has been difficult. Water does so much damage. 

 

So sorry, about the flood, was it a natural disaster or some appliance snafu?

 

I did see the holes for the stitching but I had to go on flicker to zoom the picture.

[my63]

Hi Anne-Sophie

Cold weather we think a joint in the mains pipe failed 1cm below the floor level. I have just posted this picture to instagram.

 

2023-03-22_05-43-43 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I wanted to be sure the case was large enough so I tack stitched it together and tried it inside. If anything it is on the large side, I may add some padding. The stitching will be blue not red btw.

[Anne-Sophie]

2 hours ago, my63 said:

Hi Anne-Sophie

Cold weather we think a joint in the mains pipe failed 1cm below the floor level. I have just posted this picture to instagram.

 

2023-03-22_05-43-43 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I wanted to be sure the case was large enough so I tack stitched it together and tried it inside. If anything it is on the large side, I may add some padding. The stitching will be blue not red btw.

 

 Sooo beautiful! Quel talent! I already told you that there was not enough English words to describe your utterly first class craftsmanship.

 

So sorry about the plumbing snafu, one of those areas when being a homeowner is taxing at best, ultra stressful at worse.

[my63]

After attaching the suede it was time to start assembly.

 

2023-03-25_02-56-14 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have a few days of stitching now  

[Anne-Sophie]

On 3/25/2023 at 11:36 AM, my63 said:

After attaching the suede it was time to start assembly.

 

2023-03-25_02-56-14 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have a few days of stitching now  

 

Wow! Stunning! Is the suede blue or purple?

 

If the future owner is amiable to waiting, please take you time to spare your hands.

[my63]

Thanks Anne-Sophie I wanted to say it was electric blue but it is not, When I ran out I could not remember what colour it was. My supplier kindly looked back through their records and found all of the blue suede I have purchased and found it was cornflower blue. It does have a purpleish hint to it in some lights. My mobile camera is not very good with colour.

 

Handle time, this is my first attemptfor this handle I have made handles in the past but not in this style that I can find. Anyway it is too large for this case. The case itself is 30cm wide with a fold area of 5cm. My next effort will be exagerated nibs you will see.

 

2023-03-28_11-51-59 by my0771, on Flickr

[my63]

The first handle is OK however it is too large for the case I am making. So time for another attempt. 

 

My son designed the nib shape on the computerwhich I printed and stuck to board. This enabled me to use CAD (cardboard aided design)  to make my template

 

2023-03-31_06-20-27 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I started with a plan to have straps holding the ends of the handle, Like this:

 

2023-03-31_06-20-19 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Again I found that the case was too small to allow this type of handle, so back to the drawing board again. I came up with this.

 

2023-04-21_05-23-40 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The edges are finished with special paint which dries mat.

 

2023-04-10_05-42-56 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Next came the lock, I had some issues with the rivets that came with the lock so I ordered some replacements. To make sure the back of the lock never comes into contact with the contents of the case I made a disc to mount the lock on.

 

2023-04-21_05-24-44 by my0771, on Flickr

 

2023-04-21_05-24-51 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have since covered the back with thin leather.

 

 

 

[JulieParadise]

What a cute idea: A strap/handle with nib-ends! 🤗

 

Thank you for showing this (and bringing a big smile to my face)! 

[Anne-Sophie]

So lovely! A family project = so many great ideas!

[txomsy]

Simply amazing. Great work!