All Bound Up - making journals

Journal - how to

	These are the materials that you need to start bookbinding: leather hide (4-6oz in weight), a bone folder, awl, tapestry needle, scissors, waxed irish linen thread (2-3ply) and paper (90-160lb).
	First, fold the paper in half and press the bone folder down the length of the crease to break the paper fibers. Repeat on the opposite side of the paper.
	Next, use the bone folder to tear the sheet of paper in half. Repeat this process until you get the size of paper that you want to make into a journal.
	Once you have all the paper folded, gather paper into stacks of six and place one inside the other to formulate signitures.
	Then, you take your pre-made template (see Frame 6 for template creation) line it up with the paper and punch four holes into the paper with your awl.
	First, Cut a piece of cardstock or cardboard into the size of paper that will make the book. Then, measure approximately an inch from each end. Draw a horizontial line on the cardstock. From there, draw another mark 1/2" to 1-1/2" away depending on how long you want your stitches. Then draw two more horizontial lines. Anywhere in the middle of the template, draw 8 (or 6 if you are make a small book) vertical lines on the template. Where the horizontial and vertical lines meet, you will punch in that many holes into the template with your awl. At one edge, cut small notches into the template to make room for your awl when punching holes into your paper.
	Now you need to measure how much leather you will need. Place the stacks of signitures onto the leather. Fold over a portion to meet the edge of the pages. Then, wrap the leather around the pages to determine how long you want the leather to wrap around the paper to make the journal.
	Then, measure the edge where you have the paper's height.
	Now that you have the height and length of the leather cover, cut this from the leather.
	Take your template again, and from the edge of the leather measure where the binding will start. At this point, place the template there and punch holes into the leather with your awl.
	Measure lengths of thread for your journal. Use one length of the leather per number of signitures you are going to sew into the leather.
	Start to sew by putting the needle through the second to last hole from the right (horizontially) starting on the inside cover. Then put the needle through the last hole and thread though the paper. Then put the needle into the second hole from the bottom (vertically), as in the picture to your left, through the paper and leather.
	Notice my hand is covering the first hole from the bottom and the thread is coming out of the second hole in the first column second row. Think of this as a grid
	Put the needle through the third row hold into the paper and then back through the paper into the fourth row first column hole. The first signiture is sewn in.
	You repeat this process of weaving the paper into the leather with thread. Once you have up and down once, you will have a loop on the outside of the hole you just came out of. Take your needle and put it through the loop, needle point in towards binding (in picture at left). Pull the thread taunt and put needle into the next hole to be sewn.
	This is how your finished binding should look. Make sure when you finish sewing, to make a double knot with the piece that you left an inch in the beginning with the end piece.
	Now cut a small slit into the leather approximately in the middle of the book and a 1/4" from the egde. Also, cut a slit into the edge of the piece of leather that you will be using as a strap.
	Put the end of the slitted strap into the slit in the book. Then, put the un-slitted end of the strap into the slitted end.
	Pull and fix until flat.
	Your completed journal, ready for use!

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