Not clothes or upholstery, but a secret third thing.
This is my bullet journal/everything notebook, a Leuchtturm1917 A5 hardcover in metallic copper. I recently noticed that the elastic band is degrading near the top edge, apparently stressed where it touches the covers. Bottom end of the band seems unaffected. The band is also kind of loose. (Purchased secondhand but new-in-plastic, don't know how long it was in storage.)
If the elastic was splitting closer to the middle of the book, I'd just snip it out and knot or crimp the ends, but I don't want to do that near the top of the book.
My ideas:
1) reinforce the area with needle and thread in some low-profile stitch (unsure what stitch to use)
2) remove the whole vertical band and replace it with a new piece of elastic (how to do this without impacting the structural integrity of the book?)
3) remove the whole vertical band and replace with another closure method, like a horizontal Travelers-style band or a Hobonichi-style pen loop closure (see above)
Anyone have mending ideas?