Handmade Leather Journals: Refillable, Hand-Bound, Made to Last

Quick Answer

A handmade leather journal is a book with a real-leather cover and hand-bound pages, made to be refilled and kept for years. At Trinketz, each one is made once, in Islamabad, Pakistan, from upcycled Italian leather lined with velvet, or from woven pashmina and cashmere fabric, as a refillable traveler’s notebook.

The leather came to me the way most of my materials do: from someone who had more than she needed.

A friend of mine makes handbags. When she finished her project she had beautiful leather left over, thick and sturdy and Italian, and she gave it to me.

I made it into covers. I lined them with velvet.

I love the colour of that velvet. You do not see it until you open the book, and then it is the first thing you notice.

What makes a leather journal worth keeping

Three things, for me.

Real leather. Not bonded leather, not PU, not synthetic. Thick, sturdy, genuine leather: the kind that softens where your hand holds it. A notebook cover cannot do that.

Pages that are sewn, not glued. Glue gives up eventually, and when it does the pages leave one by one. Thread can be repaired. The simplest binding I know is a pamphlet stitch with three holes. It is the one I use for most of the inserts (the rest are machine-stitched), and the one I teach in my binding tutorial.

A book you can refill. This is the part I love most about a traveler’s notebook. The cover stays. The pages change.

Refillable leather journal: how it works

A traveler’s notebook is a leather cover that holds its notebooks on elastic. When one is full, you slip it out and put in another. The leather stays with you, and the pages come and go.

The inserts in mine are small notebooks I make myself. Some have tea-dyed pages, sometimes with lace. Some are simple and lined, with hand-drawn pages and iridescent card-stock covers printed on the inside. Every one is bound with a pamphlet stitch or machine stitching.

That means the same cover can hold a travel diary this year, a recipe notebook next year, and a year of letters after that.

The leather I use

It is upcycled Italian leather, genuine, thick and sturdy, with that velvet inside. It has already been made into one thing, a handbag, and I am giving what was left a second life.

Leather has long been one of Pakistan’s export industries, and a great deal of it comes through the tanneries of Karachi and Sialkot. Mine did not come that way. It came from a friend’s workshop table, which is the only way I know to be sure of where a piece of leather has been.

What I have made

Plain lined journals. I keep these simple on purpose. I did not fill them with pockets and ephemera and ribbons and all the jazz I usually do. My husband and my brothers would never want something complicated. They would not know what to do with the ephemera. But they might want to write in it, take notes, keep a journal. So these are for them, and for anyone who wants a good book to write in. They are not gender-specific.

The coffee journal. Coffee-themed notebooks inside, with printables from My Porch Prints, which are very pretty. Long pockets in the middle where you can slip something in. Coffee is everywhere here now, in every café you pass, and I thought someone who loves it might like a book of their own.

Distressed and hand-dyed journals. I dye the pages with food colouring and set them outside on my grill, so they come back with little dots on them. They look so cute. The edges are distressed by hand. Nothing is perfectly straight, and I do not want it to be.

Frosted forest. Pages printed from Tracy Fox’s frosted forest journaling kit, with a little lace on the cover, because I cannot help putting lace everywhere.

One lesson from this leather. I once had a bird printed onto a cover. I love that bird. But the print came out faded, not bright, and it covered the texture of the leather, which you can do on any other material, but not on this one. I did not like it at all. Now I let the leather show.

Pashmina and cashmere woven covers

Not every cover is leather.

Some of my traveler’s notebooks are covered in woven pashmina and cashmere fabric, in a deep red paisley. It is one of the most luxurious fabrics I work with, and it deserves to be held.

The pages inside have lace along their edges, and a black elastic holds everything together, just as it does in the leather ones.

Like the leather covers, these are made once, and the notebooks inside can be swapped when they are full.

How to tell a leather journal is real leather

A few things I would ask any maker. (There is more in How to Choose a Handmade Journal →.)

• Where did the leather come from? A maker who can tell you the story of the leather is one worth trusting. “Genuine” on a label does not tell you much.
• Look at the cut edge. Real leather shows a fibrous edge. Bonded leather looks smooth and uniform, like pressed paper.
• Feel the weight. Thick, sturdy leather has a heft that thin, shiny leather does not.

Looking after a leather journal

Keep it dry, away from direct sun and heat. Handle it with clean hands. Wipe it with a soft dry cloth. It will change over the years, and that is the point.

A leather journal as a gift

For someone who writes, draws, thinks, remembers, a leather journal is a gift that says: I want you to keep this. Because the pages refill, it keeps being useful long after the first notebook is full. More on choosing a gift in Heirloom Gifts →

How a leather journal comes to you

I do not have a shop. There is no browsing, no cart, no checkout. New one-of-a-kind works are offered first to Trinketz collectors, through private showings. You join the Collectors’ List, and when a book is ready I share it with you directly: its story, its details, and its price.

Join the Collectors’ List →

Custom leather journal

If you would like a custom leather journal, ask me when you join the commission list. Whether I can make it in this Italian leather depends on how much of it I have left, and I will always tell you before we begin. Commissions are one a month, from USD 300, about a month from start to finish, with free shipping, and we agree the price together before I begin.

Commission a journal → · How a commission works →

Watch how I make them

I show these leather traveler’s notebooks in motion on my YouTube channel. I also made a tutorial on how to bind a book with a simple three-hole pamphlet stitch.

If you are curious about the craft traditions behind these books, Junk Journal 101 is a gentle place to begin, and the short quiz can help you see how you collect and remember. If you love the idea of a book as an object, you may also like What Is an Artist Book?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a refillable leather journal?

A leather cover that holds removable notebooks, usually on elastic, so that when one is full you slip it out and put in another. The leather stays, and the pages change.

What leather do you use?

Upcycled Italian leather, genuine, thick and sturdy, with a velvet lining. It was left over from a friend’s handbag-making.

Do you make notebooks in fabric as well as leather?

Yes. Some of my traveler’s notebooks are covered in woven pashmina and cashmere fabric, in a deep red paisley, with lace along the page edges. Like the leather ones, the notebooks inside can be swapped when they are full.

How is a handmade leather journal different from a leather-look notebook?

The cover is real leather, not bonded or PU, the pages are bound by hand, and the book is made to be refilled and kept, not used up and replaced.

Can I get a leather journal without pockets or ephemera?

Yes. I make plain lined leather journals on purpose, with hand-drawn pages and nothing extra, for anyone who wants to write without fuss.

Can I commission a custom leather journal?

Yes, when I have the leather. My Italian leather was left over from a friend’s handbag-making, so how much I can make depends on how much I have. Tell me what you have in mind, and I will tell you honestly what is possible. Commissions are one a month, from USD 300, with free shipping.

Do you ship internationally?

Yes. Shipping on commissions is free, and I have shipped to collectors in more than seven countries.

I hope whoever holds one of these journals fills it, takes it out, fills another, and keeps the leather for years.

What would you write in a book that was made to last?

— Savera, Islamabad