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davidanaandrake β Book Binding Tutorial
Published: 2012-01-08 05:28:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 20468; Favourites: 663; Downloads: 613
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Ok, so, wow, this has taken me ages to get around to, and two days to actually do, photograph and put together in tutorial form.This is my cheaty bookbinding method.
I have no machines or nice paper/card suppliers, so I kind of have to adapt what others do so they work for me. The most expensive bit to buy via this method is probably the duct tape.
I hope it's clear enough. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. I'll go-a-searching later on after dinner to find the tutorials I learned from and adapted to do this method.
Also, disclaimer: I am not a professional book binder, at least not in the proper way. I do my best to make them very pretty and work, but I'm not professionally trained (I'm self-trained), and I have no machines or gear or whatever else. So, please don't take this tutorial as the be-all and end-all of how to do book binding. I'm an amateur.
That said, I worked really hard on this, it's my gift to for catching my kiriban.
EDIT: I see my typical long sentences, typos and overly wordiness has not taken a break for this tutorial. I'm sorry. Can't fix it now., will attack it again later and perhaps add a few more pictures so we can keep the names for parts of the book construction consistent.
>.< Sorry.
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Comments: 86
What are signatures and how can I make the paper for that? I was confused at first.
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Β Signatures are the groups of folded pages. I often just use normal A4 printer paper, fold each page in half and slip the next one into the previous so it forms a sort of booklet. I group five folded pages at a time, and those groups are signatures. 
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Ah ok so what I see in those little children books right?
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Not too hard. A little fiddly to get the tension right when you're threading the pages, and a little fiddly to do the right measurements so that when you glue the cover to the pages there isn't any overlap or underlap. But it's a much simpler method than other binders use.
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Hey, I've been thinking about binding my own book for years. I think I'll try again in some time. Do you know whether there's a way of getting it bound without having Β taped back?
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There's "Coptic" binding which is basically the page threading I did for this but you thread the pages to the cover instead of taping them, like this: www.deviantart.com/art/4-quot-⦠. And "long stitch" binding, like this: www.deviantart.com/art/Brown-l⦠. There are bound to be other methods if you look around at the book binding Groups on dA and look at what a google search produces. My method is an amalgam of those tutorials I found on dA and what resources I had at my disposal, I know professional book binders don't use duct tape for example. So advise you look around there's so many resources here and elsewhere on the net.
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Oh thank you very much. that was very helpful.
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Oh my your tutorial is EXACTLY what I was looking for
Thank you for sharing!! I can't wait to try making one
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Thank you! I'm glad it helps!Β And no problem.
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Hi, I've actually been using your tutorial for bookbinding but I haven't gotten past the threading part yet.
I have a question for binding bigger journals (say....about 500 pages) because I've always wanted a big sketcbook but could never afford the pre-made ones I've seen online - plus I'm very picky with my paper. Would it be better to bind in pieces and tie them all together? Or to do them all in one go? I tried don't in one go but I tend to get knots on my thread and isn't able to get each signature as tightly secure as I want to :I I'm new to this...
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Thank you! I'm glad it's useful!
I tend to make books with 5-10 groups of pages for the same reasons! So when I'm making bigger things, I'll completely bind up half of the pages, then I'll stitch the completed group to the other half in single groups/signatures of pages. I've also threaded all of the top stitch into half, and all of the bottom stitch into half of the signatures, and then sewn the middle stitch through the whole thing then done the undone half tops and bottoms just to help with the whole knots and tension thing.
You might also want to find a store that supplies the proper waxed thread used for professional binding... I use normal thread, but it tends to break when there are a lot of pages, and you probably don't want your sketchbook to fall apart because the thread isn't strong enough. If your pages are thicker you can also use nylon thread that people use for beading, but that tends to rip normal paper so, only with thick sketch paper.
You can also just sew five signatures together, make a knot, sew five more and sew them onto the first. As long as your knots are fairly strong and you glue it well afterwards, you don't have to do an entire line of stitching on one piece of thread.
Good luck!
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You're welcome! I actually found your tutorial months before on an old account xD
I see. I know a hobby store nearby - they'll probably have the waxed thread. I suppose the regular thread would be good for the smaller sketchbooks at least. And I do use thick paper :] I'll check for better glue as I only have Elmer's glue so far.
Thanks. Those will help. I had a fun time fighting knots at my first attempt at threading last night (haha).
Thanks for responding and the tips! :'D
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<3 No problem.
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The best bookbinding tutorial i have found so far. It is in really good quality and easy to overlook.
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Thanks for sharing this great tutorial, it's very helpful! It has been featured here
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Oh! Thank you! That's awesome!
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You're very welcome!
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How long and how wide is the book when you finished it? I will be using this tutorial for a project at school and you may be expecting more questions if I'm having an issue. ^^' Thanks for making this tutorial.
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No problem.
Um, it was maybe an inch thick. But you can make it as thick as you want it, if you want it to be super thick, you just need to layer the ducttape so it still forms a good spine, or use some other appropriate material to bind up the spine.
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This is excellent but I'm a bit confused about the sowing part....
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Thank you!
I tried to find the tutorial I learned the stitching from but they seem to have gone. If you wait a little while I'll put up another tutorial just for the stitching. I'll see if I can do it on the weekend for you.
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WOW! I will so be doing this^^ I'm trying to make a book for my little sister as a surprise about a story she told me. And she wants me to read it to her every night when I make it xD
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:3 I'm glad it's helpful!
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I love this tutorial! It's great and very easy to use. Your time and patience in creating this tutorial is greatly appreciated.
I'm curious, do you think this method could work on books that already have print on them? I'm thinking about doing something like this for one of the stories I've written, but I'm not sure how I would work around the printed material without damaging it. Do you possibly know any tutorials that would have that option? Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you!
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I've bound up a number of my books (I'm a writer) in this manner. This method works just fine with printed material. Just make sure when it's printed the spine part of the page is fairly wide, the paper is thick (so it doesn't rip while you're sewing the pages), and keep the end pages that link the cover to the inside, blank. The tricky bit would be printing it on paper in such a way that you can bind it up. I used Word so two pages fit on one sheet of paper. It took a bit of creative tinkering with which pages go where and double-sided printing, but it works fine.
I would recommend you go to some of the book binding and paper craft communities here on dA and look through their tutorials. To start you off, this is the folder where I've stored my favourite book binding tutorials: [link]
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Thank you so much! I appreciate the help. I'm going to definitely look more into it, but this is a great start.
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No problem.
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Thanks so much for this tutorial! It's really helpful! :3
Also, if you wanna print out a book and then bind it, print it from a pdf file, there's a function called "brochure" which does all the calculating etc. for you!
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This is an extremely clear and easy to understand tutorial. You have enough pictures, one for each step, but not too many. If I ever need to make something into a book, yours is definitely one of the references I will be using.
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what kind of board did u use for the cover i mean can u just use card board or something along those lines
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"Box card". It needs to be quite firm, normal cardboard isn't stiff enough to use for a cover. I can only find it at a proper stationary or art store.
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okay thanks if i do make a good looking book i will take a pic and tag u and some one else for your help thanks
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what kind of board did u use for the cover i mean can u just use card board or something along those lines
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Maybe a video-tutorial? Mostly for the sewing-part XD
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Yep, it's on my list of things to do. Might be a while though.
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Take your time XD There's no rush. This tut on it's own is very helpful!
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Other than that, this is by far the BEST tut on book-binding I've seen on dA.
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Beautiful book, and what a wonderful use for duct tape
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Thank you.
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I had wanted to do bookbinding but it always seemed to difficult. You made it look not exactly easy but do-able! I'll be sure to give it a try!
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I hope you'll link me to a post of your results! I love to see how people use my stuff to make other things!
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I'll keep it in mind. As long as I can gather up all the materials fast enough!
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