Saturday, September 14, 2013

My DIY Midori Traveler's Notebook

Sometime last year, I first heard of the Midori Traveler's notebook (Midori through a video Leslie did in making her own knock-off. I liked the system, it's very simple and clean and refillable, but right then, I had no time or even space to make one. I'd put it on the 'when we move I will..'-mental list I had been keeping.

Then sure enough a month or so ago, the Midoris started popping up in my Youtube list of suggestions. I suppose it had something to do with the Filofax videos I'd been watching, the two, although different systems, seem to go hand in hand rather well.

I rewatched Leslie's video, watched a couple of others including Ray Blake's, and ordered some leather on eBay..... which... of course... was not really suitable for this kind of project. It was far too thin and certainly not stiff enough, but I wanted to try and see if I could actually make a Midori style notebook, otherwise known as a Fauxdori.

I managed to, and filled it with notebooks, but I was still unhappy with the way the leather was curling up as you put the book down. Something had to be done about it. Google took me to this site and soon I was doing my own little experiments. I dunked a piece in hot just-boiled water and some washing-up liquid. Did not do much. I tried cheap perfume, thinking of urine used in the leather industry in the past. Didn't do anything other than making the leather smell of cheap perfum, duhhh... Glue worked, but left it feeling rough. Then I thought of Vanish Oxi Action, a stain remover you add to your washing powder. That did the trick!

So here it is, my Fauxdori: