My latest DIY, the travel notebook. This is how I made mine…

Supplies:

  • Leather 10″ x 8″
  • Elastic cord 1.2mm. thickness (You can use a thicker one, just make sure it will fit through the eyelets. DO NOT use a thinner size)
  • 5 Eyelets 5/32″ (4mm.)
  • Cutting mat (I recommend something stronger, the leather punch almost cut through my mat)
  • Ruler
  • Fabric Pencil Marker
  • Hammer
  • Leather puncher with 4mm. tip
  • Eyelet Tools for 5/32″ (4mm.)
  • 1 button larger than 4mm. (Not pictured above)

[Optional: 2 Charms/beads (Not pictured above; I forgot to include them)]

    1. Placed the front of the travel notebook facedown on the cutting mat. Using a ruler measure the center spine of the notebook. From the top, 1/4″ down make a dot using fabric pencil marker. From that dot, 1/2″ down mark another dot. From the bottom, do the same thing. This is where the elastic cord go through for attaching Inserts (booklets).
    2. Measure the center of what will be the back cover of the notebook. Make a dot and this is where the closure cord will be.
    3. Follow the directions for your leather puncher accordingly and punch out the marked dots. Mine called for some hammering.

4. Follow the directions on the packaging of your eyelets/eyelet tools. This is what the front and back cover of my travel notebook looks like.

5. Now for the fun part! You will need two cords; one for the spine and one for the closure. Also two beads/charms (this part is optional), I’ve narrowed mine down to these six.

6. Take your cord, go through the top hole, Hole 1, from the inside of the travel notebook. Then through your charm/bead if you adding one. You are currently on the outside of the notebook, now go through Hole 2 and you should be back inside of the notebook. Hang onto your cord and go through Hole 3. From the outside of the notebook, go through Hole 4. Finally tie a knot.

7. For the closure cord: Take your cord from the inside of the notebook and go through the button, then through Hole 5. From the outside, through your charm/bead if you are adding one and then back through Hole 5. Finally go through the button and tie a knot.

That’s it, you’re done! Here’s what mine looks like lying flat opened. The left side is the back cover and the right side is the front cover.

INSERTS –
I didn’t take any step by step pictures. Sorry!

The stripe cover booklet is leftover scrapbook paper and I used sketchbook paper for the inside pages. The pastel purple cover is cardstock and this booklet is filled with watercolor paper.

I cut down everything to 8.5″ x 7.5″ using my paper trimmer. Folded everything in half using a scoring board, put it all together and then stapled it. Stapling was tricky, I had to bend half of the booklet in in order to staple the center. Then trimmed the little slivers of paper sticking out from the cover. I rounded the corners using the corner puncher on my envelope punch board, which made it look much nicer.

I think next time I’m going to try 8.75″ x 7.5″, because there’s actually a good amount of space left after inserting the booklets into the travel notebook. That extra space causes the closure cord to pull the opening side of the travel notebook inwards. Also maybe running the booklets through a sewing machine might be better than the stapler. The back cover and some pages have creases due to bending in order to staple.

I hope my DIY was easy to follow. If you made one, please send me a link, I would love to see it! Or if you’re having trouble, please comment below and I will try to help.