Book binding is a great way of making your own sketchbooks and journals and they make great gifts too. We’ve put together a step by step hand sewn book tutorial that will guide you through the process of making your own books.
You will need:
- Cutting mat
- Craft knife
- Glue (PVA and or paste)
- Glue brush
- Needle
- Strong thread
- Thick brown paper for spine
- Scrim/mull (thick muslin) for spine
- Paper for inner pages
- Paper for end papers
- Board (thick card or mount board) for the covers
- Paper of fabric to cover board
Step 1: create your sections
Select paper for your pages. If necessary trim to the correct format – so if you want a square page, you will need to use double the final width and fold in half or for an A5 book, fold A4 in half. Generally 4 sheets (creates 8 pages) work well for each section. Keep creating your sections until you are happy with the thickness of your book.
Step 2: line up sections
Once you’ve created your sections, put them on top of each other and make sure they all line up.
Step 3: measure out your holes to sew the pages together
Once you have done this, take a pencil and make a mark (up all sections) 15mm from the left side and 15mm from the right side.
Then, make 4 equal lines between these marks. This will bring your total number of marks to 6. So for an A5 book (A4 folded in half to make each section), you would have your 15mm measurement from the left edge – put your ruler on this 15mm mark and create a mark at 3.6cm, 7.2cm, 10.8cm and 14.4 cm. Then you will have reached your 15mm from the right mark.
Step 4: create the holes
Once you have created all the marks for the holes for each section, you will need to turn these into holes. Take each section and push a needle through each pencil mark.
Step 5: sew the pages together
- Hold your first section like an upside down v – with the fold facing towards you
- Pass the needle down into the first hole of one section
- Pass the needle up through the next hole
- Pass the needle down through the next hole
- Repeat along length of section
When you reach the end of the first section, your needle should have come from underneath the section and be ready to pass down into the first hole of the next section.
Now you will be joining your next section:
Repeat the same process above, but this time, hook your thread across through the previous loop (see diagram below) and continue until you have completed the section. This makes sure the pages are securely held together.
To tighten your sewing, pull your thread sideways, never up as this can cause the holes to rip. Continue sewing all the pages together and tie a knot when you reach the end.
Step 6: glue the spine
Make sure sections are all lined up together. Put your sewn book under a pile of heavy books to make sure that the sections do not move when you glue them. Apply a thin layer of glue to the spine and press down to make sure you squeeze out excess air. Once this has dried, you can trim pages will a guillotine to even them up if needed.
Put the book back under books to keep all the sections level. Apply another layer of glue and put on a piece of scrim/null. This will add strength to the spine.
Once that has dried, glue on a piece of thick brown paper and gently rub with your fingers to ensure it has adhered correctly. Leave to dry.
Step 7: create the outer cover
Once the glue has dried you should have something that resembles a book – all your pages will be in place and there should be no loose leaves.
- Measure the width, height and depth of your book
- First mark out the front and back cover on your mount board: take the width and height measurement and add 5mm (for front cover) to the top, left and bottom and 5mm (for back cover) to top, right and bottom sides.
- Measure the width of your book’s spine, adding 5mm to the top and bottom measurements
- Cut out of mount board and layout on your chosen paper – leave a space that is the width of your board between the front and back covers – without this gap you will not be able to close your book
- Apply glue directly onto boards or the cover material of your book. Apply glue from the centre out and leave to dry
- Once dry, leave about an inch excess cover material all the way round and cut out
- Then fold and glue this inch cover over onto the board (what will be the inside) and leave to dry
Step 8: gluing your end papers
This step is the most fiddly part of making the book.
- Your end papers will need to the double the width of one page of your book – so if you are creating an A5 book, the paper used for your end papers will need to be A4
- Fold your end paper in half
- Apply paste to one side of your end paper – we usually start with the side that will not be glued to the board cover
- Once you have done this, apply glue to the other side (the side that will be attached to the cover) and close the book
- This is always a bit daunting as you think it’s not going to work but it does!
- Put the book back under your books (never apply pressure to the spine) and leave to dry overnight
Done! Now you can admire your book!