DIY Traveler's Notebook Tutorial

A handmade grey traveler's notebook, closed
If you read or watch stationery content online, you might have fallen for the allure of the Traveler’s Notebook by now. The design is ingenious, and simple enough that you can make your own.

When I was searching for a DIY tutorial myself, the only ones I could find were intimidating. So here is a mega-simple one.

No special tools are required (as long as you pick a material you can cut with scissors). No sewing is required.

Materials

  • The two biggest notebooks you want to put in the cover
  • Cover material - I bought some cork fabric, which ended up being <1mm thick. I recommend finding a flexible fabric/leather/plastic which is slightly thicker, maybe 1.5mm. Something that won’t fray.
  • Elastic cord - the typical kind which is wrapped in woven material
  • A scissors
  • A ruler
  • A pencil - for marking the material
  • A pen with a pointy metal tip - for stabbing holes in it
  • A hole widener - anything with a flat pointy shape that you can use to widen the holes by twisting. I used a nail file from a penknife. Maybe a nose scissors or tweezers would do?
  • Optional: Small tweezers to make it easier to pull cord through holes.
Photo of the materials listed

Steps

  1. Lay your notebooks out side by side and measure their total height and width. You could even lay them straight onto your material. Add some extra in each direction (you’ll especially want extra width to wrap around the spine and protect the page edges) to get the size of your cover.
The size I picked, relative to my A6-ish notebooks. I added about 1cm vertically and 3cm horizontally.

The size I picked, relative to my A6-ish notebooks. I added about 1cm vertically and 3cm horizontally.

  1. (Optional) Cut out a piece of paper the size of your cover and wrap it around your notebooks to check the size is okay.

  2. Cut your fabric. Then make X markings like this:

You could increase the 0.5cm distance from the edge, but I wouldn&rsquo;t increase the 1cm distance because the notebooks would be held at increasingly different heights.

You could increase the 0.5cm distance from the edge, but I wouldn’t increase the 1cm distance because the notebooks would be held at increasingly different heights.

  1. Cut two lengths of elastic cord, one to go through the spine and another to hold the book closed. For an A6 cover, I would start with 40cm and 30cm. You can always trim it later, so better to go long.

  2. Stab and widen holes on the X markings until you can thread the elastic through. It will be fiddly, but persevere. I imagine using tweezers would be helpful here, especially if you can push them into the hole, grab the elastic and pull it back through.

  • When you’re done tie knots ASAP to preserve your progress. Your goal is this:
Don&rsquo;t double-tie the knot on the right until you know the loop is small enough, i.e. in the next step.

Don’t double-tie the knot on the right until you know the loop is small enough, i.e. in the next step.

Note: It is the hardest to get two ends of elastic through the same back hole. If you can’t manage it, try adding a second hole next to the first one. Put one end of the elastic through each hole and then tie the ends together inside.

  1. Put your notebooks inside and tighten the elastic on the spine until they are held in place securely, but still removable. Also tighten/loosen the elastic on the back until it comfortably holds everything shut. Rety knots if necessary. Then trim the excess elastic.

  2. (Optional) Snip the corners of the cover off at a 45-degree angle if you want it to look a little softer. I just eyeballed it, but you could measure 0.5cm from each corner.

Done!

Photo of the empty completed cover

If you make one, please leave a comment or email me to let me know!

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