I made this leather “briefcase” for @tendstowardschaos in the recent Junk Journal add-ins swap. It seemed appropriate for her x-files / conspiracy/ laboratory theme.
It was simple, but since this sprung from my fevered imagination one afternoon, here’s how I did it:
I cut my leather pieces. In my super-scientific way, I didn’t really measure but I at least made sure the corners were square. Okay…, square-ish. 
I sewed the leather short leather strip on the front of the briefcase, and the long one over the edge of the front flap while topstitching said flap. I made sure to leave enough of the strip that I’d be able to sew the back part down a bit later.
I placed everything onto card stock and sewed around all of the edges of the briefcase (except for the already-top stitched flap). I added the card stock to make it easier to glue into a junk journal- this way my partner would just be gluing paper instead of leather.
I also stitched alongside the opening so that the entire item was completely sewn to the card stock. This also sewed down the other end of the strap for the front closure.
Then I trimmed the card stock close to the stitching so that no paper was visible from the front.
I added a metal jewelry finding to the closure end of the strap to make it look more finished and to help prevent the strap from slipping out of the closure too easily. I also carefully moistened the folded over top flap (I didn’t want the paper backing to get wet) and held the briefcase closed with binder clips, and left it to dry for a few hours. I did that moistening bit a couple of times.
Then I made a few little goodies to fit inside. Not pictured: another tiny envelope I made while dabbling with a paper scrap.
Thanks for looking!
)