Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Another Pinterest attempt - the fauxdori

I'm probably the last person to hop on this trend, but I've been seeing all these pins on Pinterest about making your own Midori style traveler's notebook with removable notebooks inside. I didn't think much of it, assuming it prob wasn't for me. After talking with Doris in our recent planner episode on the podcast, I was intrigued by her mention of the Midori as a possible planner option. Then I checked out the prices. Whew - they're a bit rich for my blood.  So I went back to Pinterest and to Instagram and then to YouTube to check out some tutorials. I specifically recommend the various tutorials by SeaLemon on YouTube; she's easy to understand and includes detailed instructions.












Here's what I'll do differently next time:
1. I should've used a thicker elastic. The instructions called for 2 mm, but I had 1/2 mm on hand and tried to use that. It's really too thin for this project, so I'll need to buy the thicker gauge.
2. A rotary cutter would've made it easier to cut the vinyl and the lining fabric. It would've also cut down on the fraying.
3. I should've left a 1/2 inch border of vinyl instead of running the lining fabric right up to the edge. As it is, you can see the fabric when the notebook is closed, and I didn't want that. I could fix it at this point with some ribbon trim, but I'll prob just leave it as is.
4. I haven't made any of the filler notebooks to go in them yet, but I def want to try some soon.
5.  My hole punches aren't super smooth with my crop a file; I think an awl might give me crisper edges. What do you think?

Here's what I did right:
1. I liked using duck cloth as my lining fabric because it gave the cover some weight. With a thin cotton, I think the lining would've shown through, and the cover would've been too flimsy.
2. The basic fusible webbing I used was fine but medium or heavyweight could be better. I'm willing to experiment with that a bit.
3. The different sizes I made were fun. I can envision doing lots of variations on sizes.
4. Starting with a cheap vinyl remnant and duck cloth I had on hand was smart; next, I want to try with some more expensive embossed vinyl + some oil cloth + maybe even some real leather remnants.
5. The little tassels are super cute, so I'll prob use those again. I also think it'd be cute to put a bead or two with the tassel or on the closing elastic piece.

2 comments:

  1. Great project! I have also been eyeing this project on pinterest and have the supplies just haven't made the time. I did pick up an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of leather at Michaels with a coupon so it made it about $6. It's just so pretty I haven't been able to bear to cut it! Thanks for the insights. Dawn F.

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  2. That is cute. I might make one of those too.

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