Baking and Life

How to make a journal from an old book… the budget remix

31 Jul 2011 4 Comments

by Sarah in Crafts Tags: bookbinding, crafts, how to, howto, indie, individual, journal, journalling, making, recycling, upcycling, vintage

[AKA: massacring a historical artefact in order to have a one-of-a-kind scribblebook]

Inspired in the ever-lovely £1-bookroom of Voltaire and Rousseau, I decided to take the chance of buying a pretty old book and ripping it apart for my own ends. I’d meant to take a look online to see if this was possible first, but forgot and figured £1 wouldn’t go to waste on an old book anyway. My choice: The Aspen Papers and Other Stories, by Henry James. I flicked through it first, establishing that it (1) wasn’t a 1st edition that might be worth a penny or two more some day, and (2) that it wasn’t a great read. Satisfied on both counts, and armed with my newfound knowledge of the art of bookbinding, I set to making what will be my chronicle of my adventures abroad next year (I hope, anyway!). And then found that I have absolutely no idea where my sewing stuff’s gone. Probably the same place as my watch (missing for a fortnight) and maybe where my camera went to (missing until the day after I bought a replacement on eBay, then mysteriously appeared).

Apparently, you’re also meant to have many other things to successfully bookbind: a press, an “awl” (whatever that is), cheesecloth, and waxed thread, to name but a few. I didn’t have them, so made do and mended, and it  seems to have worked out.

First, a few pieces of terminology:

Folio: One sheet of paper, folded, making 2 leaves or 4 pages

Headband: Small, ornamental band at the top of the book

Signature:  A collection of folios (for my book, I used 9 signatures of 5 folios each, meaning I’ve 180 sides in total – plus plenty of room for stuffing tickets etc in!)

Next, the basic ingredients:

• Paper (printer paper’ll do, you probably want decent quality stuff though) (cut to the right size with a guillotine if need be)
• Thread which you’ve waxed with beeswax OR dental floss (you can give your teeth a thorough clean at the same time, now you’re remembering about it…)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• An awl OR a biggish heavy needle
• A smaller needle, that’ll take the thread/floss
• A press OR 3 big bulldog clips
• Cheesecloth OR some gauze from the medicine box
• PVA or spray or some other form of glue
• Ribbon / something to use as a marker
• An old book
• Pretty, or at least coloured card to use for the front and back covers
• For the headband:

• Cord OR leather OR thick string OR an old shoelace (I used thick string, though in this case I’d actually advise thin leather if you can, as after I made the headband I realised that it would be better with the leather)
• Embroidery thread (or just thick-ish thread)

Now, the good stuff:

Right, so once you’ve assembled all of the above (or the first 7 anyway; I always work on the principle that something should be got off to a good start and then the needful other items can be obtained along the way), and gutted your old book (I used my grandpa’s stanley knife; no idea how common they are but you need something sharp like that), then it’s time to begin.

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