Make Stuff with Your Kid

It is easy to make Japanese style sewn bound books. You can make them out of any leftover paper you have around or super beautiful rice paper from the art store. I dug out a topographic map from a great hike I took and used it for the front cover. I used a thicker piece for the back page. Using stuff like a map from a trip you took can make a book like this really personal. I think that this one will become an album for pictures from that hike.

I got out my trusty paper cutter and cut front and back cover pieces to 5 inches by 7 inches (scissors do this just fine, but I feel all fancy since I have a paper cutter…). For the inside pages of the book, I used some nice stationary that I got at a garage sale. It takes fountain pen ink really well and that is what I am hoping to use to write in this book. You could also make books filled with drawings that your kids have made or other paper things that you want to keep.

The next step is to mark the paper where you want to make the holes for the binding string. I fold a piece of scrap paper that is one inch wide and as long as the height of the book. (1″ x 5″ for this example) This piece of scrap will be a template for the holes to sew through.

Here is how you lay out the marks on the template. Measure in from the ends 3/4 of an inch - both top and bottom. Then I divide the leftover space evenly. for this pattern (5″ x 7″), the end marks are 3/4 in from the ends and the two middle marks are one inch in from the end marks. I think that the most important thing when you are laying out one of these books (and you can make it any size you like) is that you first measure the outside two holes and make them equal. That will give the book the right look. If you click on the picture, it will enlarge so you can see the template better. If this is just totally confusing, email me at jim@makestuffwithyourkid.com and I will send you a template you can print.

Next, press the fold of your template paper against the left side of your book cover and make a pencil mark where each of your template marks is.

If you are making more than one of these, the template really helps speed things up and makes all the books uniform. If you plan to make a bunch, I would even make this template out of something heavier than the note card I used for mine.

Once you have the hole positions marked, stack your front cover, inner pages, and back cover together. Clip the book pages together with binder clips. This will keep things from slipping around while you punch the holes through the pages.

I use a small finish nail and hammer to make starter holes for the binding string.

Make sure you are on a sturdy surface and most importantly, do put some backing material behind the book. You might get in trouble for nailing your book to the dining table. (Even if it is really pretty…)

You can start sewing at this point if you like but I think it is a little easier to sew the book if you enlarge the holes just a little bit.

If you have a power drill (and a REALLY good backing) you can use it here.

If not, you can wrap the end of a drill bit with tape to make it easy to hold. You could also hold onto the drill bit with some vise grips.

In this picture, I am hand twisting the tape wrapped drill bit through holes I already made with the finish nail. If you go to the hardware store, ask for ‘6 penny’ finish nails. They are about the right size.

Once the holes are all enlarged, we are ready to start that really cool looking sewn binding. At this point, your book edge should look something like this:

In the next post, I will show you the sewing pattern.