Pen Holder as Closure

I had the idea for this type of closure some months ago and last week I finally found the time to try it out. – And it works perfectly: The pencil closes the book neatly, and will always be where you need it. I already added two journals with it to my Etsy Shop (check here and here).

This is how it works: After you did your limp leather binding (I wrote an instruction for the style that you can see in the photo before) you cut a short strip of the same leather – about 2 inches or 5 cm long, depending on how thick a pencil you want to stick through the hole.

Place a pencil on the cover where you would want it to sit, not too near the front edge of the leather leaving enough room for the stitch with which you will attach the strip to the cover. Make small marks on its left and right.

Cut two slits, slightly larger that your strip is wide parallel to the book spine and front edge at the position you just marked.

Pull your strip through the slits. Put your pen in to judge how much of the strip should be on the outside on the cover. Take into consideration that you will need a little more room since the pencil is going to sit at the other side of another layer of the leather. But also don’t make it too slack – the pencil should still hold on to the loop by itself. Punch holes through the strip and your cover and sew your strip onto the cover.

Put the front flap over the loop. Mark the position of the loop inside the front flat and cut a window into the leather to just let the loop get through.

– Done.