Need Tips for Making a Book

**Lady_V** · 03-19-2007, 08:26 PM

Hiya - I am trying to figure out the best way to bind a journal.

I plan on doing a cross between the "journal in a jar' and a tell all book, lol

I have seen ideas on how to make a book-cover for a store bought journal, but, haven't been able to find one that tells me how to bind it myself so I can make a fancy cover.

I plan on making the pages 4.25x5.5 (half a piece of paper) in various fancy colors etc....

Any ANY ideas are welcomed!!!!

**Edna_E** · 03-19-2007, 10:14 PM

You can sew it, or you can glue it. There are probably other ways, but those are pretty basic. Either way, line up the pages carefully, and I'd use clamps to hold them together tightly. If you try the sewing method, you might want an awl to punch through - a regular needle isn't strong enough.

**acidcookie** · 03-19-2007, 11:02 PM

I'm not sure if this is the kind of binding you mean, but I once "published" my own paperback of my blog.

After I printed out all the pages I lined them up at the spine perfectly.
Then, clamped them with binder clips.
Using a Q-tip, I spread glue (just your basic white glue) all across the spine.
I let that layer dry
Then I added another layer and glued to the spine some card stock that I had measured for the book as its "cover"
I reclamped the whole thing and let it dry overnight.

Still holding up after 4 years!

**Lady_V** · 03-20-2007, 01:31 PM

Thanks for the ideas... I know I wont be able to sew it because it will have 365 pages (not enough

in the world for me to sew that many...

but, I will do a 'practice' with the method AcidCookie mentioned... the last thing I want is to have someone open the cover and get attacked by flying pages... practice makes near-perfect (I am a realist after all)

**acidcookie** · 03-20-2007, 01:57 PM

If you need more specific details, let me know. It worked out for me the first time I tried so it's pretty doable. Just remember a little glue goes a long way