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Two Simple Book Making Techniques by Trisha Neal
Instructions by Trisha
Materials List:
Supplies:
papers-I like to use various types of papers, such
as vellum and pages from old books and maps
cardstock for cover
ruler
for technique 1-something to tie off book. I generally
use some elastic thread, but you could use pretty
much anything, such as: embroidery floss, crochet
cotton, a strip of fabric, ribbon
for technique 2-
paper piercing tool
darning needle and something non-stretchy to stitch
up book
clamps, such as those big black paper clips-clothes
pins will work, as well
Whatever you'd like to use to finish off your book-stamps,
inks, any additional embellishments of your choosing.
I usually stamp and embellish AFTER constructing
the book form, but honestly, it would be a whole
lot easier to stamp pages BEFORE binding the book!
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Gather your papers. Cut or
tear a piece of cardstock for the cover, and
fold it in half. This is a guide for the other
papers-you probably want the pages to fit inside
the book, so keep them somewhat smaller than
the cover. I usually make mine various sizes,
and have torn edges peeking out from the cover.
Fold all of the pages in half,
and arrange them how you like inside the cardstock
cover. If you already have a theme in mind,
you may want to go ahead and stamp the pages
now . . .
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Roughly measure a piece of
elastic (or whatever you choose to tie off your
book) to approximately 4 times as long as your
book is tall.
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Tie off the elastic or string
at the back of the book. I generally tie mine
off at the center back, but you may prefer the
top or bottom. Beads, feathers, and/or bits
of fabric can also be added to the tie.
That's it for technique number
1-you're ready to stamp and embellish. Super
simple, right? Ready for technique number two?
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For
the second book, the first step is the same:
Gather your papers. Cut or tear a piece of cardstock
for the cover, and fold it in half. This is
a guide for the other papers-you probably want
the pages to fit inside the book, so keep them
somewhat smaller than the cover. I usually make
mine various sizes, and have torn edges peeking
out from the cover.
Fold all of the pages in half, and arrange
them how you like inside the cardstock cover.
If you already have a theme in mind, you may
want to go ahead and stamp the pages now.
To keep things from moving around, clamp the
pages and cover together.
Opening the book flat, use a ruler to find
the center of the book's spine.
This
step will depend on the size of the book. The
book in the sample is small, so I measured out
a little over an inch from the center, marking
each spot. You may want to measure out a little
further-just make sure the outer two marks are
pretty much an equal distance from the center
dot.
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Using a paper piercing tool (or the darning needle,
if you don't happen to have a paper piercer about),
poke holes through all the thicknesses of paper
at the two outer marks only--NOT THE CENTER dot.
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As with the previous technique, use a piece
of string that is roughly 4 times as long as the
book is tall. Do NOT knot the end of the string.
Thread the darning needle and stitch through from
one of the punched holes on the outside cover,
though to the inside. Leave a five inch or so
tail at the end of the string-the tail is hanging
out of the front cover at this point. From the
inside of the book, go through the other hole,
back out to outside the book cover--it's simply
making a circle of string through the punched
holes.
Pull snug-not so tight as to tear any paper,
just tight enough that the pages aren't loose--and
tie the two tails into a knot. You may want to
add beads or other embellishments to the string,
as well.
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Take off the clamps, and you
are ready to finish off your book. Here is the
start of the cover for this one.
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I hope you enjoyed these super simple book binding
techniques, and look forward to seeing what you
create for the binding challenge at the Blockheads
Designs blog. All styles of binding are welcome,
but don't forget to include rubber stamping as
well.
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