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Hello friends! This is a simple (but time intensive) way to pay tribute to that paperback you've read a thousand times. While not perfect, it has saved a few of my very favorites and is also a useful way to bind notebooks without having to fold signatures. The pictures in this instructable are from a notebook I sewed using this method.
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Signing UpStep 1What you will need
Required:
- Sewing needles
- Thread -something strong. Traditional bookbinding uses linen thread. I have found that quilting and upholstery thread, which is thicker than sewing thread, works well.
- X-acto knife or razor blade
- Thick paper (for the template)
- Decorative paper (for the end papers)
- Binders board (a compact sort of cardboard. In practice you can use plastic, mat-board, and even wood, with varying quality results.)
- Book-cloth (This is special cloth with a paper backing that prevents glue from coming up through the fibers. If you are doing a soft cover binding, any kind of cloth or leather will work).
- Glue (traditionally, bookbinders use wheat paste, a slow drying glue made from vegetable starch and water. PVA is often used - this is a white glue that is a lot like Elmers glue, but a little more flexible. It is un-reversible, meaning that once PVA is applied, it can never be undone. Still, I've used Elmers glue in a lot of projects, and it works just fine.)
- Cheese cloth (used to reinforce the spine)
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I do something like that with my paperbacks and I use cardboard from tetrapacks, I mean two liters empty briks of fruit juice, milk or whatever. There are different thikness, colours ecc. of the cardboard, depends on brand and product contained. Cotton medical gauze should be considered for glued reinforging, I used a soft hotmelting glue with pretty good results.