Aeons ago, I learned the art of bookbinding, then I promptly forgot about it because...well there are tonnes of notebooks, journals, and sketchbooks out there. Do I really need to make my own? Fast forward to the end of last year when I came across a YouTube video by Sealemon on bookbinding and the spark was rekindled. After watching all the videos she had on her channel, I looked all over YouTube for videos and started watching those too. There are so many methods out there! There are things that these amazing people actually came up with because they wanted to bind different things and make them special and pretty. So finally, last month I decided to take the plunge. I was going to make my first handmade sketchbook for a class I am taking. I went about gathering my tools, and I came across an amazing listing on Amazon that had them all. I bought the kit, along with some book binding glue (it has to be PH neutral) and some bookbinding tape. And I was ready!
Come with me on my adventure!
Materials used:
- Book press (see picture above)
- Bone folder (see picture above)
- Awl (see picture above)
- Needles and bookbinding thread, which is linen and waxed (see picture above)
- Punching cradle (see picture above)
- Paper (depending on what sort of book you want to do, I used sketchpad paper because I wanted to make a sketchbook)
- Bookbinding tape 1.5in (I used 1.5 inches for my spine but the size depends on how big your book spine is)
- Bookbinding glue (I used PH Neutral PVA glue)
- Card stock paper for the end pages.
- Chipboards for the cover (I wanted a hard cover but if you want a soft cover use heavy card paper)
- Tissue paper (or whatever you want to use to decorate your cover)
Now, the first step is to prepare the papers you will need for your text block. You can use lined, blank or dotted, depending on what you are trying to make. I was trying to make a sketchbook so I used some paper from a sketch pad and folded it in half then trimmed it to around A5 size. Then I made signatures. A signature is when you put the folded pages inside each other to form a packet. I had five folded pages in each signature. I made ten signatures.
Next, I needed to make a template for the holes that I needed to make in the spine of these signatures to make them ready for stitching. How many holes and how far apart they are is completely up to you so long as you are careful that they line up on all the signatures. I used the punching cradle and Awl to make the holes with my template as a guide.
I was ready to stitch my signatures together to form the inside text block. I used to the instructions from Sealemon's videos to stitch my text block using the Kettle stitch method. It was a bit hard on the fingers but it came out beautifully.
Next, I put the text block in my book press and added PVA glue to the spine. Be very careful that the glue doesn't go too far between the signatures or that it doesn't flow over the sides and make the pages on the back and front of the text block stick to the book press...yes I ruined a text block because of that and had to start over. I added three coats of glue and in between each one, I waited at least 15 to 30 minutes for the glue to completely dry.
While I was waiting I folded two black cardstock papers in half using my bone folder for ease to add later to my text block. I also measured out the back and front cover on the chipboards and a spine and cut them. Make sure your spine is exactly as wide and as long as your text block spine. Next, I glued my chipboards to some tissue paper I had leaving an eighth of an inch between the covers and the side of the spine, this is so you can open and close the book with ease. Because glue tends to warp chipboards I put the cover under some heavy books to dry so that it dries straight. I had taken pictures of all of these steps, but I was also babysitting that day and the little monkey erased them 😞...After the text block dried I put a ribbon on the spine of the text block and glued it down. I waited until the bookmark was totally dry then I added some bookbinding tape on the spine to give it some extra strength. I put some glue on the edge the pages near the spine and stuck the black folded pages on it. Then put it in the book press to dry.
I trimmed the black pages down so that they were the same size of the text block and now I was ready to stick the cover on the text block. I started with the black page on the end and stuck it to the back of the chipboard. I made sure that it was possible to open and close the back cover and then I moved to the front. Again using the black page, I glued it onto the front chipboard. Do NOT glue down the spine.
Now that I was sure the covers were stuck on correctly, I put the sketchbook inside the book press so that the book covers stayed straight while the black pages dried.
When I got the sketchbook out of the book press I noticed that the tissue paper on the spine cracked a little (okay a lot) because the tissue paper was very thin.
So what I did was look for cardstock paper, cut it to size and glued it on the spine and the sides. This gave it extra strength for when I opened and closed the book and also covered up the cracked tissue paper.
I wanted to share a few things I learned. Bookbinding thread is great...but because of its thickness it doesn't work well with a kettle stitch. Now I think that the kettle stitch (and this is my opinion) is the best way to bind signatures together so the next time I'm going to use normal sewing thread and maybe wax it so that it doesn't tangle. Double check your measurements for the papers you use. I found myself re-sizing a few things after binding because I'd misjudged a measurement. When making signatures there will always be page creep at the end. This is when the pages end up not being all flush with each other. Don't panic. Some people, like me, like the rustic look. If you are not one of these people just use an Exacto knife and trim the edges down then use sandpaper or nail file to make the cut paper smooth. If you don't have an Awl, just use a tack pin or even your needle to poke holes. Instead of the bone folder to fold down pages, you can use a metal edged ruler. And if you don't have a book press, just use anything heavy.
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