Keeping My Notebooks Covered
The two new Moleskine covers I made and the linoleum cut I used to create the embossed image.
I spent a few hours making a cover for my small Moleskine a couple of weeks ago, you can see it on the left above. I was pleased with the result so I went on and made a second, larger version for the medium size Moleskine as well. I also made a linoleum cut to emboss the cover as an experiment to see if I could get a good image using the unmounted linoleum as a blind plate. I think it turned out well enough to pursue it a bit more. I actually stood on the lino cut to get the impression into the wet leather, so I am certain if I used a press it would be even better.
The interior of the cover showing the pocket holding the cover of the notebook.
I left a good bit of room around the notebook so the cover would be able to slide a bit when the cover is opened and closed. I had an issue with the smaller version that was a tighter fit. The cover of the notebook didn’t slide well and sometimes would prevent the cover closing smoothly. You can also see the red hemp thread I chose for sewing the cover together. I like using a bit of color against the leather and the hemp thread comes in many nice colors.
I also used my old lead type to emboss my initials into the back pocket.
I used my Japanese block cutting tools on this linoleum cut. I was able to crank this out in about 30 minutes.
The detail from the linoleum cut has transferred very well to the leather.
I soaked the leather for the front cover in water for about a minute and then applied the linoleum cut, placed a small sheet of plywood on top and then stood on the whole thing for a bit. This was sufficient to make a good impression of the linocut in the leather. I then let the cover dry well before attempting to do anything else to it. I sewed the pieces together, applied Atom Wax and Edge Cote and that was about it. I am very pleased with the result and I think I will make a few more linoleum cuts to play with to make some more covers.
I am thinking about trying to use the laser cutter at TechShop to cut the leather for the covers so I don’t have to do the work individually. I am trying to draw up the template in Corel Draw, we shall see if I am up to the task. I haven’t spent a lot of time with Corel so it may be a challenge. I will update with success or failure.
As always, thanks for dropping by and have fun!
Very cool! I never would have imagined standing on it would emboss it so well. =)
I admit I am a bit on the chunky side, your mileage may vary, lol : )
Very nice! The stuff looks good! Cool to have an artist on our street!
We have art and music covered, I guess we need a couple of Doomsday Preppers and we’ve got it all, lol!!
Really cool! Thanks for sharing how you made this.