on the matter of making books
I’ve been (and still am) on the asking end of the table, so it’s really neat to be on the other side sometimes and share some of the things I’ve learned. Here are some of the questions about bookbinding that I’m often asked, and my attempts at answering them:
Q. What are some good resources for bookbinding? I’m having trouble getting started, what should I do?
A. There are lots of different tutorials floating around on the internet. Here are a few that I started with. If you feel like it’ll be easier to be coached through the process, you could take a short bookbinding class/workshop. You can find a local one by googling (ahh, the wonders of the internet).
Making your first book shouldn’t turn into a spectacle where you prepare for days/months to gather materials. Go with one of the easier tutorials and use things you already have at home, like binder clips instead of pegs, a thumbtack in place of an awl, dental floss instead of waxed thread, a heavy book instead of a brick….
To get things rolling, you could set a goal for yourself that you’re going to make a handmade book to give to a friend for a special occasion. The fact that you have to get it done on a certain date for a specific person and that it must look a certain way will get you going. Another fun way to start is by having a bookmaking/crafting party. Invite a few friends over, set out some snacks and drinks, print out a couple of tutorials, and together, make some books!
Q. What glue do you recommend?
If you’re trying to assemble your first book, Elmer’s. But if you want to make nicer ones to use and give to friends, you’ll want to invest in bookbinding glue (which dries more flexible than regular white glue). There are no specific brands, they’ll all be great as long as they are PVA (polyvinyl acetate). Here’s one example and here’s another.
Q. Where can I find reclaimed paper?
I get reclaimed paper from friends who work in art/education/architecture so they save boxfuls of their drafts and discarded papers for me. Ask your friends to keep a box for recycled papers at their home/office that you can pick up whenever it’s full. Propose a trade with some online crafty types (i.e. trade one of your handmade journals for a big stack of papers). And, if you’re willing to spend a couple of dollars, pay a visit to the 99cent and thrift stores.
Q. What paper cutter do you recommend? How do you cut paper?
I started off with a teeny Dahle rolling trimmer. I now use a Rotatrim professional trimmer. If you’re looking to chop huge stacks of paper, you’ll need a guillotine-style cutter (which I am utterly afraid of — not to mention they are a safety hazard if you have kids or pets in your home!). If you want to cut a gigantic stack of paper perfectly, befriend a printing press/book bindery and have them chop your papers for you with an electric guillotine. Or, forget about the paper cutter altogether and just tear your sheets of paper so they’re all approximately the same size ~ the imperfections add to the handmade quality of your book!
I’ll leave you for now with a great video from If’n Books bindery that will get you laughing. Enjoy!
{Update, April 2008: Hi everyone, thank you all for leaving such sweet messages and comments in response to the tutorial!
Since I am unable to respond individually to your additional bookmaking questions, I’d recommend googling your queries online and you’ll most likely unearth some great answers. Best of luck to each of you in all your bookmaking endeavors!}
that was possibly the best video ever? it sure did make me laugh! thank you for sharing the information in this post!
Hello Judy,
Greetings from the UK! Excellent post, you’re so generous with your knowledge! I had a go at making one of your photo books (although I used a paper collage instead) using your tutorial, and it turned out pretty well. I just have a question regarding the glue - I used a wood glue (it’s a pva glue) but I found that some of the pages were very loose and some came out. Is this the glue I used do you think or was it because I didn’t line up my edges properly? Thank you so much, I really enjoy reading about you and your work, it’s so interesting reading about your business - I’m a self confessed paper freak myself, you can never have enough notebooks in my opinion!
Hi Lucy ~ glad you tried the tutorial! … in answer to your question, it’s probably because you didn’t have them all the papers lined up along the edge. Also, the next time you try it, you might want to apply a third layer of glue. Have fun!
Thankyou, Judy, I will try a third layer. I’ve also bought some proper book binding glue, and ordered a new blade for my paper trimmer. I’m all set for another try!
Oh, that looks so fun! Thank you for your little tips.. I would love to try it!
I came here through Camilla Engman’s blog. She bought one of your journals and had a link back to your site. Great tutorial. I hope to be trying it out soon.
Wonderful! I came in here via the photojojo newsletter, thank you for sharing this information. As luck would have it, today we are having an office clean out day, so now I’m off to rummage the paper bins
Hi Judy. Thank you so much for this tutorial, i’m just about to go off and make a book to write all my course notes in!
thank you for a perfect tutorial, it certainly made me want to go and try it out myself - and I will!
I’m constantly working with photos but never thought to use them this way. I love your journals! I’m definitely going to give them a try as I’m another who thinks you can never have too many journals and/or notebooks. Thanks so much for sharing!
This video was awesome! Thanks so much for sharing this information. I’m very excited now to try something with it. If it works out, I’d love to share it with you if I could.
My first little journal is drying right now… thanks so much for the instructions! I’m having fun with Photoshop right now and prepping some photos to print tomorrow for more journals.
I can’t wait to start making these for my x-mas present collection
Hey Judy, I saw the video on the photojojo site and I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for sharing with everyone, a generous soul indeed! I am going to have so much fun making these. I also scrapbook, so I could make like a book with some photos as well as journalling on the inside aswell. Please continue to share your ideas and tips with us. Take care Jenni : )
Thanks so much for the information and tutorial. I saw your video on Photojojo and yesterday made three books using more photos within the books mixed with different papers. They are fantastic! Because I wasn’t sure about the glue (I just used Elmers’), I applied 3 coats of glue. My daughter loved hers (with photos of our cats) and started using it as a story book (to write her own) right away.
Thanks again!
Hey Judy! I checked the video tutorial this morning and I made two little books for my friends with photos of them as back and front page! I think a vidtutorial is much better because you can actually see the process, and you get motivated to do the same! I also read your tutorial but that seemed harder to work out, but it isn’t! Keep it on!
Thank you for sharing this great tutorial. I’m definitely going to try this. You also inspired me to try to make a tutorial video of my own to post on my site. Thanks for the inspiration!
Aloha…Mahalo nui loa (thanks very much) from Hawaii for the great video tutorial, Judy! Wishing you much success, and a happy and prosperous 2008!
you are the best!
i’m making my first one today;
i’m thinking of assembling the scrap paper of the artschool that i’m in, make books of them, and sell them to the students at my school.
With the collected money, we’d help fun WWF or Greenpeace.
still an idea though,
frist see how the book turns out today =)
don’t you guys find that the photoformat is too small? i’m trying a A5 format
Hi Judy,
Thanks for emailing me and pointing me to this article. You are very kind to share your knowledge. I will be trying my hand at a elmer glue based journal today..your journals rock.
Judy thank you for the tutorial which enabled me to craft a handmade book for my 14 month old grandson. I cannot wait for him to be old enough to help Paw Gee make books for him to treasure forever.
Judy, greeting from Michigan.
I want to thank you for such a wonderful video.
My boyfriends mom has cancer and for Christmas I bought her a journal so she could write down all of her feelings and she would be leaving something that money could never buy. She told me that she was in need of another one as that one was almost full, so I thought about making her one for a little more meaning.
You make it look so easy, I think I just may give it a shot!
Diana