What we covered:
How to use recycled materials to make a book with printer paper and a stapled spine.
How to use saddlestitch to make a simple 1 section book with a paper cover.
How to do ‘dot dash’ stitch to complete a one section book.
Useful Links
- Lovely tutorial on how to stitch single section books, includes saddle stitch and chain stitch.
- The Sea Lemon YT channel has a lot of bookbinding resources and a playlist is here.
- If you liked the sound of making your own hardbacked book or buying a beautiful handmade one, check out Ursula’s instagram and site. (URSULA USED TO DO WORKSHOPS AND I THINK STILL DOES THEM OCCASIONALLY.)
- The beautiful book by Rachel Hazell with 15 different techniques
- DAS bookbinding – professional bookbinder in Australia
- Nik the Booksmith – lots of lovely and unusual book projects
- The art of the fold by Heidi kyle and ulla warchol
The materials we used and suppliers
- A4 printer paper
- A4 KHADI PAPER (Please note that this is an affiliate link which will give you 10% off your first order with Jackson’s and I will receive a small commission which does not impact the cost for you).
- Paper pad of decorative cover papers from Hobbycraft or the works
- Recycling box items like cereal boxes
- Staples
- Pencils (with rubber on end)
- Binding clips
- Self-healing mat
- Metal ruler
- Craft knife
- Bone Folder
- Size 15/18 bookbinding needle or can be bought here but I really like the size 1 needle from the Korbond needle pack which you can buy in tesco
- Waxed French linen thread (fine) available in lots of lovely colours here
- Waxed cord in lots of lovely colours here
- Fiskars 3-in-1 Corner Squeeze Punch Well Rounded – I could not find the same one as mine available in the UK but this one or this one look like they do the same thing.
- SHEPHERD’S Bookbinding supplies at this site and if you want to have a go at making your first hard cover text book, take a look at this it’s an instruction sheet (£3.00) on how to make the book which becomes the content of the book. There are also accompanying videos on their site for free.
- Wooden-handled awls
tips
How much thread to use? For a single section book and saddlestitch, you will need 2.5 times the length of the spine. For Dot Dash stitch you need about 3 times to be comfortable tying off. For an A5 chain stitch, it’s 5 times the length of the spine.
Remind me how to make the jig (for getting your stitches on the spine)? There is a video here at 8 mins in, the instructor shows you how to make the jig.