Hey hey hey! As I've been getting into book making for my last uni project I thought I'd share with you how it's done... I was stitching a book together while I was taking pictures for this blog post, with the help of [this] video, which shows you how exactly to stitch the pages together. For this and the simpler "fold and glue" method, you need:

• A pencil
• A metal ruler
• A bone tool - something hard and rounded works too
• Needle and thread
• A craft knife
• A cutting mat
• PVA glue
• Bulldog clips
• Book mull
• Cardboard
• Sheets of paper - lots of white and two coloured
• Coloured paper, card or cloth (bigger than the paper you will use for sheets)

Start off by folding your sheets of paper (the pages) in half, then  rub the fold with the bone tool - I compromised without one of these by using the side of a pen. Then mark out where the holes will be for your thread - be sure to make it the same on each page so everything lines up nicely in the finished book. With the needle poke holes in your markings to make it easier to thread, blue tack underneath the page makes this easier.

This is a good point to watch the video [x] and thread your book together!


This is how mine looked... And yeah it was wonky as hell. The lady made it look mush easier! Reinforce the spine with book mull - again if you don't have this, a sheet of ordinary paper will be fine. The inside of this book should look like this:


The fold and glue method is much simpler and easier... After you've decided on the size of your book, leave an extra 1.5cm margin, you'll need to score this (using the back of the craft knife) to make folding easier, and again smooth this down using a bone tool (or bone tool-like object). Then you have a tab to glue to the next page.

Level up your pages and clamp them together and glue the back of the tab onto the page on top of it, then once every tab has been glued, move the clamps to the glued spine to hold it together while it dries. It is best to have a scrap piece of paper between the clamps and your book so it doesn't mark your masterpiece. Again, reinforce the spine with mull (or paper) and you should have an open page that looks like this:


Despite having a much more obvious join, this method of book making is much easier - if you want a detailed step-by-step "how to" on this, let me know and it shall be done! The coloured end paper then hides the last tab at the start of the book, to do this you glue the inside of the tab and stick the folded end page into the crease, like so:


Then stick another end page onto the back - just glue a couple centimetres onto the last page and stick it down, there's nothing on the last page to see anyway so it's fine to cover it like this a bit.

Once you have your book block (a chunk of pages either glued or stitched together), the next step is the cover. For this little book I used this cardboard, in another book I have made I used book board, which is much thicker and harder. First, measure how big your pages are (when closed) and add on half a centimetre so that your cover is bigger than your pages and - well - covers them.

Put PVA glue all over the board and stick the back cover onto your coloured paper/card/cloth (in this case I have used black card). Then place your block of pages in the middle of this, place your top cover board on top, making sure both covers are lined up together. Glue the front board and then fold the card over the front of the book. Once both boards are glued onto the coloured card, smooth it all out and get as few ripples as you can. once it's dried a bit, cut off the corners, leaving a couple millimetres from the corner of the board so it doesn't poke out of the card when finished.

Fold over these tabs onto the board and smooth it out with the bone tool - or pen - and then glue it all down. Then you're ready to stick your pages in!


This is the most difficult part. Glue your coloured (or even patterned) end pages - but not too much as it will ripple or even get so wet it will tear (and induce stress and frustration, trust me!), perhaps even try a glue stick at this stage to prevent ruining it at this point. Stick the end page completely onto the back cover of the book, in the middle of the board. Once that's on and has been smoothed down with your hand, glue the first end page and fold the front cover over to stick that down. Your end pages should look like this:


With this book I decorated it with stamps for a little experimentation of design...




I hope this has been helpful - or at least interesting! Do let me know if you give it a try, I;d love to see your results.

Hey-o good people and a merry Saturday to you! It's sunny here, it has been for a few days and I am  LOVING it! I am mostly in a good mood, I always am when it's sunny but I have added reasons to be. My last uni project received a First (essentially an A, in case you don't know) which I don't want to brag about but I am very proud of, but it means they're keeping a hold onto my submission to double check the grade is correct, so I can't post my pictures from said project yet as I don't have the memory stick - argh! Nevertheless the next - and final project of first year - has been launched and we have to make a photobook which I'm very excited for.

It comes to no surprise that I love books and although it's been a long while since I've read some beloved fiction, my thoughts about books remain the same... I like to make books feel read. That sounds bizarre but I do. I like to crack the spine, fold the corner of the page rather than use a bookmark and now I've begun underlining parts that really resonate with me, as you can see above.

Some of you a probably launching your blog reading devices across the room right now thinking that's sacrilege, but books were made to be read - so read them rather than protecting them and handling with care just because it's a book. I do have exceptions of course, like if it's a photobook or a library book - in which case they are adorned with colourful tabs stuck to the best pages. And when buying a book - I got two semi-educational ones very recently - I always pick out the one in best condition. Contradicting myself? No, I accept books get battered in bags and such (even though I am sad at the first mark) but I like to make my own "book bruises", because it's my book after all and the marks on it are mine and tell the story of where I've taken it to be read, as well as the actual story inside.

I have books from school complete with highlights and annotations inside. I have books with rippled pages where the rain has soaked through. I have books littered with tabs to mark my favourite pictures to revisit later when I need a dose of inspiration. I have books with bent spines and scuffed up covers. I have books with creased corners. I have books in boxes and on shelves and in bags ready to read when I get bored enough out and about. I have books with tea stains when I've partnered a good read with a cup of tea. But I also have books in perfect neat condition.

I never feel like I read enough and I'm always wanting more books when I ran out of shelf space years ago. But books make me happy, they're a welcome distraction from the world, and more often now my collection is growing from just fiction novels, an interesting addition to how I live in the world with all it's factual insight. And because I love them so much, I make sure to make the most of the book and read it thoroughly; cracking the spine so I can hold it easier, folding the corners of the pages to not let a bookmark slip out anyway - or break when I fiddle with it while reading - and marking the sentences the author has written so beautifully.

I encourage you to do this with your books too. It was a slow process for me to get up to this point of making these "book bruises", I used to use (and collect) bookmarks religiously and never ever crack the spine no matter what. Even now I only write on the pages in pencil but I expect it's only a matter of time before I whip out a pen to read with. Perhaps begin like I did with sticky tabs and pencils galore, or even with a book you don't mind about so much - an old one or second hand so your marks aren't so strikingly out of place. And try not to mourn when it gets boshed in your bag and accept these "book bruises" as your own.