A Different Kind of Phone Book.

  Disguising cell phones inside cases that look like books - I wish I could take credit for this idea. However, Duchess Kallista Morgunova showed me an example, and asked me to make her a few as gifts. I was happy to oblige.

        The cover of each book is made from veg tan leather (2 mm or 4 mm). Set inside the cover is a wooden frame. These frames were cut from boards to fit the phones they would hold. The frames were then glued to the covers.

         The covers were then wetted, and bent over the frame so they would close easily. I then wetted the cover generally so the leather could be tooled. A simple pattern was marked onto the leather. Using an X-acto knife I carefully carved into the leather along the pattern. These lines where then accentuated by using running a tool along the cuts. I suppose a proper leatherworking tool would have done this job better; however, a mechanical pencil’s point (with the lead retracted) served me well enough.

        The designs all followed a similar pattern - a Tau (the T shape) with some other minor details.

After the designs were in place, I began dying the leather. Most of the covers were black, but one was brown. This, with the slight differences in the designs will hopefully help the owners tell theirs apart. I then applied a layer of acrylic seal. I then did a bit of painting (mostly painting the Taus white).

One or two straps (with buckles) were stitched to the cases to hold them closed. Inside the frames, I glued crushed velvet to help cushion the phones. Another later of seal for the covers and frames, and that should do it.

In total I made four of these books. Thank you very much, Duchess Kallista. This was a fun project.