Project #9--Moleskin/Passport Holder--FAIL

Moleskin Cahier Notebook

One of my bosses uses a pocket notebook. He uses his notebook to make notations about things that he doesn't want to forget. I have always admired him because if he writes it in his notebook, he gets things done or gets answers. I decided that I wanted to give him an Opening Night gift of a set of Moleskin Cahier notebooks and a portfolio to hold his notebook. This was my first attempt. AND--it was a major FAIL.

Since this was the prototype, I decided to use materials that I had readily at hand. For the finished product, I plan on wrapping the boards in leather. For the prototype, I decided to use book cloth.

First, I cut the boards to size. I also decided to round the corners of the boards to mimic the rounded corners of the notebook. The structure that I decided to use was a hard case pamphlet style book. Rather than sew the signatures into the hinge, I will sew a piece of elastic into the hinge so the notebook can slide under the elastic band to hold the notebook in place. The width of the gap between the two boards was measured to be 1/4 inch.

Dry measuring the boards

Rounded Edges

For the hinge, I used a piece of elastic that was sewn to the hinge on the underside and then wrapped around the top and bottom edges. The height of the hinge was the same length of the boards less the amount of the turn ins (less 1.5 inches for 3/4 inch turn ins).

Bottom side of hinge
(the side to be glued)

The top side of the hinge

Once everything was glued in, I realized many of my mistakes. The corners were cut too tight to accommodate the rounded corners.

The hinge was too short. While the notebook fit, there was too much pressure on the hinge and the it started to pull away from the book boards.

The elastic going over the top and bottom of the hinge didn't work either and caused the boards to warp.

Finally, the width of the gap wasn't sufficient for the book to close.

Major FAIL

So back to the drawing board to figure things out. Another prototype is needed.