But aside from that, let me catch you up. If you haven't taken a look at the project page, here's the link again. Rather clever if you ask me.
Securing the needed materials - until this sewing machine issue - was the biggest problem. I went through four different thrift stores looking for a book that suited my needs. I decided to stick with the older books for two reasons. The first is that I like the covers better than what we have on the newer hardbound books. Secondly, I surmised that older books would be well used books and the spines would be separated from the binding. This proved correct.
If successful, I plan on making a second one of these so when I found some rather academic looking books that suited my needs, I grabbed all of them. For the price of $11 dollars and some odd looks from the cashier, I am now set to do at least two. I'm rather attached to the old engineering guide that I picked up.
Forget fabric stores. I went, I looked, I went to Michaels and that's where I recommend you go for your materials.
I opted for heavy paper - think 4x the thickness of poster board and much stiffer. For a second version, I think I'll spend the money - $13 rather than $7 - and get heavy matting. The book I chose is still in good condition, but I think I'd like the extra sturdy feel of picture matting.
You will need the 9 yards of elastic. I went with the 0.5 inch strands and have used all but some scrapes. I also went with the neoprene backing because that was readily available. I chose grey because I liked the look better than black on black. They had some extra fun colors - orange and red - which I might use for the second book. You can see the neoprene behind the elastic when done so that might be fun.
As you can see here, I've marked out the areas with what I'm going to put where. The original has a large pocket on the right. I'm debating doing this, or weaving in some elastic for pens or other things. I'm going to put the iPod at the top - she put her cell phone there - and then straight elastic on the left.
The book I chose was slightly smaller than the one she used so I don't think I'll be able to get my laptop charger inside. I don't think I'd want to in any case because of how much space that would take up. Instead I'm opting to corral the cords I have in my bag - iPod charger, phone charger plus extention, HDMI cable - and a flash drive and ear buds.
This is where I am right now. I've cut the lengths I need and then attached the long pieces with pins. And then the sewing machine mishap happened, so now we're in a holding pattern. But things are coming along nicely, and it's a project you can probably knock out in a day, maybe two.
I don't have any recommendations as of now. I would say that you should error on the side of a book at least as large as the original if not slightly larger. Also take into consideration the thickness of the book, and what you plan on putting inside. One reason I chose to skip using the engineering book aside from liking it - a very clean book considering it was published in 1939 - is that it's only about 1.5" thick which can be limiting on what I can put inside if I plan on using both sides - and I do. I would caution about using too thick of a book. I saw an old dictionary that looked useful but the thickness - at least 3.5" - was a turn off. Remember this should fit in a bag.
Well that's it for now. Everything is set up and ready to go, so as soon as I hear back about a machine, we'll be off and running again.
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