I am so tired of looking for new notebook and never find exactly what I want. So I thought, why not make my own? This tutorial will show you how to make your own notebook using an old record album cover. It also teaches a sewn in bookbinding technique. It may be that you have all these materials at home or something comparable. I used what I had at home. Here is what you'll need:
1. An old record album cover or any other large sized cardstock or thin cardboard. (manilla folder works well, thank-you to commenters below)
2. Paper. This could be blank, lined, grapned, colored or anything else you'd like. For this specific project I used blank 8 1/2 x 14 copy paper, otherwise known as legal sized paper.
3. Thread that won't break, like embroidery thread. (it also must be a cotton, otherwise it will tend to cut the paper and through the binding holes. 100% cotton yarn works great as well, but you'll have to make the holes a couple times larger for binding.
4. Embroidery needle or other thick sized needle that will hold embroidery or bookbinding thread.
5. Thumb tack.
6. Ruler.
7. Pencil.
8. Large paper clips.
9. Butter knife or bone folder.
10. A paper-cutter or really good pair of scissors or a really sharp xacto knife or a box-cutter.
Optional materials:
-clear packing tape
-colored paper
-pens
-glue stick
-button
-yarn
-large bead
1. An old record album cover or any other large sized cardstock or thin cardboard. (manilla folder works well, thank-you to commenters below)
2. Paper. This could be blank, lined, grapned, colored or anything else you'd like. For this specific project I used blank 8 1/2 x 14 copy paper, otherwise known as legal sized paper.
3. Thread that won't break, like embroidery thread. (it also must be a cotton, otherwise it will tend to cut the paper and through the binding holes. 100% cotton yarn works great as well, but you'll have to make the holes a couple times larger for binding.
4. Embroidery needle or other thick sized needle that will hold embroidery or bookbinding thread.
5. Thumb tack.
6. Ruler.
7. Pencil.
8. Large paper clips.
9. Butter knife or bone folder.
10. A paper-cutter or really good pair of scissors or a really sharp xacto knife or a box-cutter.
Optional materials:
-clear packing tape
-colored paper
-pens
-glue stick
-button
-yarn
-large bead
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Signing UpStep 1: Making the Cover
1. Start with cutting your album cover so it opens like a book. To do this cut across the top and bottom, following the fold.
2. Then, cut it to these dimensions, 15" x 8 3/4". Leave the middle fold as the center of the cover. Don't try to change the place it will fold from or it will lose it's shape and sturdiness.
3. Measure 3/8" out from the center on both the right and left sides. Score the cover from top to bottom on both sides. These scores should run parallel with the center. Keep in mind that the side you score it on is the side that will be the outside of the cover. I chose the white, or inside, to be the cover. I wanted to decorate it with a blank slate this time.
4. Fold the scored sides in, shaping your cover. Now set aside momentarily.
2. Then, cut it to these dimensions, 15" x 8 3/4". Leave the middle fold as the center of the cover. Don't try to change the place it will fold from or it will lose it's shape and sturdiness.
3. Measure 3/8" out from the center on both the right and left sides. Score the cover from top to bottom on both sides. These scores should run parallel with the center. Keep in mind that the side you score it on is the side that will be the outside of the cover. I chose the white, or inside, to be the cover. I wanted to decorate it with a blank slate this time.
4. Fold the scored sides in, shaping your cover. Now set aside momentarily.
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Here's http://www.utdallas.edu/~cantrell/ee4301/epaper.gif a terrible gif image of the front of a sheet :p
As it turns out, another engineering student (named Ted) asked me to make the app generate horizonal lines on the front and vertical lines on the back so that when you need graph paper, you can actually see it through the paper. It's and old school technique but it's rad. If you want to try it out, just click "Do it up Ted Style"
As the application is written, it wouldn't work well with the folding that you're doing in this instructable - but it's nothing a bit of creative photocopying couldnt take care of rather quickly.
Nice work.