Kirstie's Handmade Britain

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How To Bind A Book

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If you were inspired by the bound book that Kirstie made in Kirstie's Handmade Britain, why not try it yourself? Here's how.

Leather (amount depends on size of book)

Decorative paper for lining

Magazine pages

A4 cartridge pages

Bone folder or knife

Skewer, needle, or book binding tool (awl)

Wax covered linen thread

Scissors

Ribbon or string (optional)

Print friendly version

Skill

A beginner can tackle this, you just need to pay attention to detail and take things slowly.

Budget

You can complete this for under £15.

Time

Allow yourself a good three hours the first time you do it.

Step One: Cut The Leather

Cut the leather two and three quarter times the width you want your book to be.

Step Two: Cut The Lining

Although the leather can be left plain, Kirstie lined her book with decorative paper. Using your leather as a template, cut the lining paper leaving a 1cm border.

Step Three: Paste The Leather And Lining Together

Lay down some magazine pages (never use newspaper for something like this as the print is likely to come off) to protect your surface. Apply a starchy wallpaper paste to both the inside of the leather and the back of the decorative paper. Starting with the leather, brush from the inside out. Do the same to the paper. Dab the leather on some magazine paper to remove excess glue, and lay the decorative paper over the leather. Leave to dry under something very heavy for at least eight hours.

Step Four: Make The Booklet

The booklet is made up of five booklets, each with 16 pages. Take four sheets of A4 cartridge paper and fold in half. Run a bone folder along the seam to make sure you get nice smooth edges, or you could use the back of a knife. Cut the paper and fold in half again. Repeat until you have the right number of pages.

Step Five: Prepare The Booklets For Sewing In

Once the booklets are made they need to be sewn in. Each booklet needs three holes down the centre, and to be spaced equally across the spine so you need to create a template. Draw a line for each booklet, 4mm apart. This will ensure your booklets are evenly spaced. To mark where the holes need to go, divide the template in half and draw two lines at each end 2cm in from the border. Work out where you want your spine by wrapping the leather around your pages. Attach the template to the leather with some tape. This should be along the spine. Where the lines cross, punch a hole using a skewer, needle, or book binding tool (awl). You should end up with 15 holes. Then use the first line of your template to make three holes down the centre of each booklet.

Step Six: Sew In The Booklets

Once all the holes are punched, it's time to start sewing in the booklets. You should use wax covered linen thread which is really smooth so it won’t catch on the pages, and can be bought for a couple of pounds from most haberdasheries. Take an arm’s length and thread on to a needle. Take one of your booklets and match the holes along the top line of holes in the leather. Starting in the middle, thread the needle through the booklet and leather. Then take it up to the top hole and thread through. Follow down to the bottom hole and thread, and back through the middle, being careful not to catch the thread as you pass through. Tie two reef knots, and trim the thread.

Step Seven: Finish Off

Repeat with all of your booklets. Make a tie by cutting a separate strip of leather, or you can use ribbon, or string. Cut two holes in the leather and thread through.