DIY Planner - Bookbinding 101: Your First Book - Comments

Thank you for the tutorial.

SMD — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:15:57 -0400

Thank you for the tutorial. I've been looking for one for awhile to use with my 7 year old twins.

Awsome!!!!!

Tara Phoenix — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:19:31 -0400

I really wanted to bind small notebooks for the 8th grade that is graduating this year and this is sooo much simpler then what I had in mind. Thank you!

lines

crlc — Sun, 8 Feb 2009 22:19:29 -0500

If you want lines, you could draw them with a ruler, that way you dont have to buy new paper, and you can customize it (you could make the top line differnt, or add a date space if its a journal, or add an image, or whatever you think of)

Great Journal

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:48:28 -0400

Thank you very much for that great journal making tutorial. I have wanted to make one for ages but always thought it was so hard. But it is not - it is very easy.

I am interested in

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:17:11 -0400

I am interested in handbinding a book of poems my husband wrote. its about 100 pages long and printed on computer paper. what would be the best method to bind these together?

Bookbinding

Mark — Sun, 20 May 2007 21:16:32 -0400

I have used generic waxed dental floss in the place of bookbinders thread and it works very well. Thanks www.aboutbookbinding.com

free source of lined pages

Nick Westman — Thu, 5 Apr 2007 07:03:22 -0400

Here's a site that has a free PDF for lined pages, somewhat customizable:

http://incompetech.com/beta/linedGraphPaper/lined.html

Long-reach staplers are less

Anonymous — Sat, 4 Feb 2006 16:18:51 -0500

Long-reach staplers are less than $25 at Office Depot.

Another simple way

Anonymous — Sat, 4 Feb 2006 16:16:39 -0500

I love the stitched books but, for simple, easy-to-assemble, flexible booklets, I worked out another solution, with Innowen's tips and inspiration. I cut in half a two-pocket folder, leaving tabs to fold over, glue down and neaten the edges, then bound the two sides on the long inner edge with an Acco binder. I folded in the edge with the binder, so the binder isn't visible on the outside.

It's small enough (about 6.5x8.5) to fit into my purse very easily, and if I have more pages I can punch them and bind them in. The Acco binder mades it easy to insert more pages or take some out, and the prongs are long enough to accomodate many more pages than I'll be wanting to carry around. I especially like having the pockets so I can just fold a letter-size piece of paper in half and stick it in.

I stuck in some slash-pockets, business card pages, memo pad holders, etc from my old 5x8 binders.

Version 1 isn't fancy, but I like the flexibility and light weight. Couldn't find any 3-ring binders that were light enough, and anything with leather is also too heavy. And this is cheap--just a couple of dollars for the folders.

Thanks to everyone who's posted ideas here, it's such a practical, helpful, inspirational site.

type of paper

Anonymous — Sat, 4 Feb 2006 13:30:07 -0500

You need washi. It is a type of japanese paper that is both strong and beautiful. Most good craft stores carry it.

Monthly Diet Minder

SusanBeth — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 14:37:51 -0500

Okay, I made the traditional New Year's Resolution. So obviously I need a way to keep track of what I'm eating and calorie counts.

A daily index card could do the job, but I wanted some way to collect the information over a slightly longer term so I could look back and spot trends and mistakes and such. At the same time, I wanted the sollution to be small and lightweight enough not to add appreciable bulk to my hipster.

After poking through a Staples and an independent stationery store in vain I remembered these articles on creating your own book(lets.)

Since these diet logs aren't intended to be a permanent keepsake, I didn't bother to do any preplanning or gathering of special materials. Closest to hand was a packet of regular 3 hole punched binder paper -- good enough. No awl or bookbinding needle or waxed thread handy. Hmmm. Well, here's an ice pick, there's my embroidery bag with crewel needles and floss -- also good enough.

Method: Start with four sheets of binder paper. Cut off the top of the paper, just a bit above the first line. Next cut down the red side margin lines, both sides. Then cut the sheets in half. At the end of this butchery you should have 8 half-sheets, roughly 4.5" by 5.5".

Folding these sheets in half creates a booklet 2.75" by 5.5" with the lines running the 'normal' way. Hint: crease just two sheets at a time, for the sake of nice crisp folds. Once the folded sheets are stacked up, use an ice pick to punch the three holds along the spine, and sew them together using a triple strand of embroidery floss and a crewel needle. Then press the booklet flat under a big dictionary for a few hours, and finally trim any irregular edges that bother you.

And there you have it: a little booklet with 32 pages, absolutely perfect for recording a month's worth of data with the first page used as a 'cover'.

In my case, each page will be the record of one day's food consumption, with items recorded as eaten and calorie counts looked up and totaled at the end of the day. Since the final size is just slightly smaller than an index card, the booklet simply slides into my elastic bound hipster, no fuss, no muss.

Now, if only my diet is as successful as the booklet....

An even simpler solution for

heb — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 12:11:46 -0500

An even simpler solution for a small book of a few pages: use a stapler instead of sewing and awls or sewing machines. Not very crafty or elegant, but it works.

I did it! It works! Thanks!

Anonymous — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 18:08:48 -0500

I tried it, making up a simple booklet of forms I need for business. It worked fine.
I used 10 sheets of regular 20lb printer paper--8.5 x 11 inch, plus one more for the cover. I'd like to trim the edges so they're all neat instead of stacked, and next time I'll use heavier-weight paper for the cover, but otherwise it's perfect.
Reminds me of the way books used to be made--you could see the signatures and the threads, etc.

Well, now I'm off to try a couple of other ideas, like a planner, formatted just the way I need!

And then, Christmas gifts for a couple of people I love.

Glad you enjoyed the

innowen — Thu, 8 Dec 2005 13:21:00 -0500

Glad you enjoyed the article. If you want to make these as christmas gifts, I say go for it. You can get a lot of different types of decorative papers for both the inside and outside and use the ribbons and beads for inspirations.

I recommend you use those fabric squares and glue them into collages on the cover with PVA glue. Or glue one square down and then cover it with a slightly smaller photograph of the person you're making the book for or a serene place.

In any case, have fun with the books and don't be afraid to try out new ideas.
/innowen

Large Signatures and closing

innowen — Thu, 8 Dec 2005 13:17:47 -0500

You raise a good point. I've usually had the closing issue with 10 or more sheets in my signatures. Then again, I don't mind that the book does not close upon first creation. That and I LOVE fat books that have many pages. So usually I make my signatures with 10-20 pages in them, but never more than that.

Then again, if you want to use more sheets in your books but are worried about how they close, you can always get them to stay shut by putting them between heavy books and allowing time and gravity to keep the papers shut.

And thanks for adding more creative ideas to the mix, I love using ribbons and different fiber strings to add dimension to my bindings.
/innowen

Bookbinding 101: Your First Book

innowen — Thu, 8 Dec 2005 06:00:26 -0500

Last week I gave you a fast and dirty introduction to binding your own books. This week I'm going to show you just how easy making and sewing your own book can be. The easiest book to make is a one signature book, as seen in the first image. Today, I'm going to show you how to fold the folios, make a single signature, awl punch the paper and then sew your book with a bookbinding needle and waxed thread. While I am giving instructions to create a digest (5.5" by 4.25") sized book, you are welcome to cut your paper to make your book any size you want. I've cut paper and made single signature books to add into my Hipster using this method.

Before we begin, you'll need the following items from your local art store:

10 sheets of regular white office paper (this article uses 8.5 x 11 but you can make your book any size you want)
Heavy cover paper (this can be construction paper, or thick handmade paper or a postcard weight paper)
A bookbinding needle
A Bookbinding Awl (I own a heavy duty paper awl)
Wax thread or book binding thread.

Instructions

Grab a sheet of office paper and fold it in half. If you want a smaller sized book, trim the paper down to the size you want and then fold it in half. You now have made one folio.
Fold the rest of the sheets of paper in half to make 10 folios. You can fold the heavy cover-stock at this point as well.
Open a folio slightly and then slide in the remaining 9 folios into that one. Doing so should give you a stack of folios. This becomes the book's signature.
Put your heavy coverstock over this folio and viola. Some of the guts of the paper will poke through your cover, so you can either trim the overhang so it matches the cover or leave it. It's all up to you and your style.
Open the completed book. Using a pencil, mark a dot in the center of the fold.
Now make two more dots, 2.25" up and down from the center dot on the fold. These will be where you punch the holes for the thread with your awl.
Punch the awl through all 11 pieces of paper. If you twist the awl after it has gone all the way through, it widens the hold and smoothes it out. It's now time to sew the signature.
Take out your waxed thread and measure out roughly 2.5 feet of thread. Load up one of your book binding needles with the thread.
You now have to make a choice of whether you want the leftover thread to hang on the outside or the inside of the book. If you are making a book for mostly decorative purposes, most artists choose to leave it on the outside. This decision effects whether or not you start sewing from the center of the book or on the outside. Because I am going to show you a decorative book, I will tell you the instructions for keeping the leftovers on the outside.
Take the needle and thread and push it through the center of the hole on the outside of the signature.
Pull the needle and string through the hole, leaving a few inches behind. This becomes what you will knot the string with to make your book.
Put the needle into the left outer hole and pull the thread tight.
Pass the needle and thread through the opposite outer hole on the outside of the cover.
Put the needle through the center hole one more time and remove the needle. You are all done sewing.
Pull both strings tight to help keep your book together.
Now tie a knot (I usually make 2 or 3 knots together for security) where the two strings meet. Depending on how long you want the excess thread to be, you may need a pair of scissors to trim it down.

And that's it. You have now finished making a very simple book. Congratulations. What's even better is that you now have a book that fits inside your planner that you can now use as a separate journal or sketch book when you are out at work and feel the need to be creative. If you liked this simple journal but want to spice it up a bit more for a holiday present, here's a few ideas of things you can add to your first book.

Rip the edges of each folio so it has a "rough edge" to it. To do this you carefully rip about a centimeter of the page, or wet the page roughly and tear small bits off to make it rough. I will warn you that this is very time consuming but it does make a nice ripped edge.
Print out a sheet of paper with a title for you book and then glue it onto the cover of it.
College an assortment of pictures or scraps of colored paper to your book.
Tie decorative strings in various styles off the outside of the book to give it an artsy flair (and make it more kitty-toy friendly).
Braid the remaining binding and add beads to it.

Next, week I will step things up a bit more and show you how to make another, more intermediate, book that you can make.

D*I*Y Planner - Bookbinding 101: Your First Book - Comments