Leather Pen Wrap And A Single Pen Case

[OakIris]

I had some fun doing some simple leatherwork in June and wanted to share my projects with you. The tools I used are readily available and relatively inexpensive and I promise you, if I can make something useful out of leather, anyone can!

 

At the beginning of June, Michael (my63) sent me a wonderful pen storage box that he repurposed for me from a Ryman's Art Supply box. He included a piece of nice chocolate brown leather from the same hide that he used to make the pen trays for my box. He wrote that he had planned to make me a pen wrap as a surprise, but didn't have the time to do so and sent me the leather instead in hopes of inspiring me to make my own. The inspiration - and incentive of free leather - did the trick and a couple of weeks ago, after gathering a few tools and materials, I made a pen wrap.

 

This was the first time I had attempted to sew leather, and sewing is not something I do well (which the photos below will attest to! ), so Michael shared some ideas and tips with me, which were very helpful. I also drew inspiration from Craig Forsyth here on FPN and his venture into making a cloth pen wrap.

 

I thought a nice contrasting leather would look nice with the brown leather Michael sent me, so I bought some rust/burnt orange colored pigskin suede from my local Tandy Leather shop, along with some stitching needles, waxed thread and a diamond hole punch. Here is the leather; the suede was used for the interior of the pen wrap while the nice strong brown leather was used for the exterior:

 

 

After cutting to square it up a bit:

 

 

I had originally planned to make the pen slots about 5-5 1/4 inches in depth but found that it was very difficult to slide the pen clips over the suede, so I shortened the pen slots to about 4 1/2 inches instead. The pens slide into the pocket/slot and leave enough of the pen caps exposed that the pens can be easily grasped and pulled out of the slots. The top flap of the suede keeps the pens secure in their slots so they will not fall out even though they are not clipped.

 

I used an awl and a straight edge (in this case a paint stir stick ) to scratch/scribe lines in the leather for a guide for the stitches. I made made some of the slots wider than others to accomodate different sized pens. (As you can see, the lines did not turn out to be quite as parallel as I had intended, however.) Then, following the guidelines, I used the diamond hole punch to punch the holes in the leather for the stitches. Binder clips were used to hold the suede in place until enough stitching had been done so that the clips were no longer necessary.

 

Here are a couple of photos showing the diamond hole punch (the punch makes diamond shaped holes, in case you are wondering, thus no diamonds were harmed in the making of the punch) and the first line of holes:

 

 

The first row stitched, second row scribed, showing the awl and the infamous paint stir stick which I am sure caused my lines to be crooked - lol, if only that were true!

 

 

I used a two needle saddle stitch throughout. After the first row, I realized I needed to be a bit more agressive with the hole punch; after that the holes were cleaner and pulling the thread through was very easy. I can barely sew on a button, but I found I quite liked sewing leather, at least for the simple projects that I have completed.

 

 

Here is the interior pen slot piece with all slots sewn, top flap down:

 

 

Instead of gluing the interior suede piece to the exterior leather, I decide to sew it together with two lines of sewing above the pen slot section. I thought this would be more secure, plus giving the pens more room. Here is the wrap with both rows of stitching holes punched and one row sewn:

 

 

The interior piece now fully attached to the exterior leather:

 

 

Here is what the stitching looks like on the exterior of the wrap; I like the way it looks, though others might not:

 

 

I installed a grommet for the tie strap, and found a cool looking fountain pen nib charm to use on the cord end:

 

 

I made the strap using three strands of leather round cord, some brass crimp beads and a brass cord end and split ring from which to hang the nib charm. I also added some vintage ceramic beads I had. (I say "vintage," because I am sure I have had the beads for at least 30 years, and my Mom had them many years before that, so.... I had only a vague idea of how I was going to fasten the strap to the pen wrap, and discovered that, with the method I came up with, I needed a bead that had a interior hole diameter of at least 6mm; the only bead I had on hand that would work is way too big, as you can see from the photo, but it will do until I find something more suitable. (Sorry about the bluriness - my photography skills just about match my sewing skills, or lack there of!) Here is the grommet end of the tie strap/cord:

 

 

Here is the charm end of the strap (the lighting makes the beads look a bit washed out; in person, they are much richer in color):

 

 

Pens in place:

 

 

All wrapped up and ready to go:

 

 

This post is getting a bit unwieldy, so I will continue this in another post.

 

Holly

Edited July 5, 2013 by OakIris

[OakIris]

During the last weekend in June I decided to make a little case for my little Jean Pierre LePine Indigo fountain pen, my EDC pen when I am out and about and might need to jot down some notes. This pen actually comes with a case/pouch. The pen is small enough that it fits nicely in my front trouser pocket and of course the pouch protects it. Though the case was indeed a nice bonus, it is difficult to get the pen out of it and...it is made of fake (PU?) leather.... That just won't do!

 

Here is the pen and the original case:

 

 

 

I had plenty of leather left over from making my pen wrap and decided I should make a new protective case for the Indigo that would work better - for me anyway - than the case that came with it.

 

Here is the leather cut out, interior side pictured first:

 

 

 

I again used binder clips to hold the leather in place until it could be stitched and the hole punch to make the holes for the saddle stitching.

 

 

 

 

Here it is with the pen pouch all sewn up and pen in place:

 

 

I sewed on a piece of the rust colored suede to the top flap just to add some interest plus to give further protection for the pen cap:

 

 

I used a couple of dots of velcro to secure the flap; if I can find some small enough, I might install some small magnetic closures instead, but the velcro is fine for now. Here is the "body" of the case showing the velcro dot on it:

 

 

Here is the pen case (pouch?) with flap closed and secured:

 

 

A side by side comparison of the two cases:

 

 

So, those are my two fun projects that I completed in June.

 

At this point, though I am not up to making anything complicated, I feel confident that the next time I want a another pouch/case for a pen or two, or even a leather cover for a notebook, I will be able to make my own. They may not be as professional or as finished looking as the cases or covers you can buy, but I found that I enjoy working with leather and I like the end results of my efforts. The finished product will certainly not cost as much as buying from a professional, either, which is definitely a plus for me!

 

And as I said in my previous post, if I can make these things, I am sure that most anyone else can do the same. It really is fun.

 

Holly

[NobleDel]

I'd say sewing is something you do well! Very nice wrap.

[OakIris]

I'd say sewing is something you do well! Very nice wrap.

lol - you wouldn't say that I sew well if you could see me trying to sew on a button or to repair a tear in a shirt! Usually I stick myself with the needle a few times (nice thing about leather stitching needles - the points are blunt!) and more likely than not I also manage to sew the shirt who's button I am replacing or who's tear I am trying to fix to the trousers I am wearing. It is a very clumsy process indeed and I am usually red faced and cursing by the time I am done! The dogs and cat leave the room.....

 

Glad you liked the wrap, though!

 

Holly

[Daisy25]

Those are great. I haven't quite talked myself up to working with leather yet, but those sure do look cool!

[hot cocoa]

The Lepine's case looks like a burnt chile - nice touch! It's hard finding small cases for the pocket pens, so I can appreciate this one.

[Earthdawn]

Well done. Great project.

 

I like the "Chili pepper" looking one too.

[my63]

Hi Holly

Excellent work.

If you were not so far away I could give you lots of small pieces to keep you going in small pen cases.

I am sure you are expecting this question "whats next Holly"

[OakIris]

Burnt chile! I like that - I will consider it "fire roasted" instead of burnt.... lol

 

Daisy - go for it; I was intimidated just thinking about doing the sewing part, but actually found that working with leather is both easy and enjoyable. I will never attempt making clothing or anything complex like that, but simple things like these are well within my abilities. I am sure you will be successful, too!

 

I wish I lived closer, too, Michael - if nothing else, I would love to meet you. And getting some leather scraps would be a wonderful bonus.....

 

I don't know what my next project will be; when I can afford to get a big enough piece of leather, I'm thinking a notebook/journal cover would be nice to have and relatively easy to make.

 

I have a mini-meet this morning with some of the folks in my local Pen Posse group so I will be taking both my pen wrap and my fire roasted chile pen pouch with me for show and tell. Should be fun!

 

Holly

Edited July 7, 2013 by OakIris

[OakIris]

I finally got some magnets to use for the closure on my pen case, and made a few other changes, too.

 

I decided to cover up the "fuzzy" leather on the interior of the flap; this is upholstry grade leather and this side is supposed to be the side that doesn't show; all the little fibers got annoying, as you can see they might from this picture:

 

 

I made a rather crude paper template and cut out a piece of green pigskin suede to fit around the piece of orange suede; due to my lack of photography skills, it is hard to see the color, but it is a nice dark green:

 

 

 

 

Here I have removed the velcro "dots" I had been using to close the flap on the pen case and glued on the first magnet; I used 1/4" X 1/16 " rare earth magnets for this. (Officially neodymium magnets, but "rare earth" sounds so much cooler!) The piece of green suede will cover the magnet and, once the suede is sewn in, it will secure the magnet to the flap.

 

 

Top flap, green suede sewed to flap; the nice thing about adding the suede and two more lines of sewing, is that it made the flap sturdier and gave added protection to the pen:

 

 

The back side of the flap:

 

 

It would have been better to have had the magnets when making the case as the magnet for the body of the case could have been glued and then a piece of suede could be sewed over it to fully secure the magnet in place, as was done with the flap magnet. I ended up gluing the magnet and gluing suede over it. Rather a jury-rigged solution, but it has lasted OK so far; I expect at some point that the glue will fail.

 

 

Finished case:

 

 

 

 

And I have to add this - It still looks like a burnt chile when closed, but if you squint a little, the open case now also looks a bit like the head of a Dachshund or an Antelope. (Photos of Dachshunds and the antelope sculpture from Google images):

 

 

 

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/evdoha/evdoha1208/evdoha120801881/14868532-two-dachshund-longhair.jpg

 

 

Holly

Edited September 6, 2013 by OakIris

[aenjin]

I love all of these! Especially the last one, haha. Thank you for sharing your process photos of these projects, they're a treat.

[OakIris]

Glad that you enjoyed both the journey and the results, aenjin!

 

Holly

[ImolaS3]

Stunning Oakiris. love your work!!

 

 

[hot cocoa]

Really like how colorful the burnt chile case turned out! Nice work, Holly! It's a fun and truly original design. My homeless pens are kind of jealous right now, you know?

[Ceramicist]

Lovely work, Holly!

[OakIris]

Thank you all very much for your nice comments!

 

I had a lot of fun making the pen wrap and pen case and wanted to show folks how easy such things are to make for themselves. It is great to buy "professionally made" leather goods but I find a lot of satisfaction in making simple things for myself and have certainly been inspired by the photos and descriptions of "home-made" pen wraps etc. that others have shared with us here. Guess it is like the stunning, polished, classical work of Rembrandt vs the "primitive" folk art of Grandma Moses; sometimes I just prefer to see what Grandma created! lol

 

Holly

Edited September 12, 2013 by OakIris