A self-made book can be a great gift for a birthday, wedding, or anniversary. Gifts like this are a great way to make something ordinary unique and personal. With just the basics and a little time, you can expand your child's imagination or brighten the face of a bride-to-be.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Book with Glue and Cloth
Step 1. Select the material for the cover and cut the two pieces together exactly
For your first book, cardboard is an easy-to-use material. Once you get the hang of it, you can use wood or planks.
Book covers must be 0.6 cm wider and 1.25 cm longer than the inside pages of the book. If you are using printer paper, the cover size should be 22.2 x 31 cm
Step 2. Fold the six sheets of paper in half
Then, sew together inside the fold in a stitch pattern like number 8. Make sure your stitches start and end at the same point and the thread knot is on the inside. This step will produce the basic outline of the book.
0.6cm is sufficient width
Step 3. Stack several volumes of these six papers on top of one another
Make sure the edges are even. Press the stack between the heavy books and measure the width of the frame.
When it has flattened, sew the binding together with the same formation
Step 4. Cut one sheet of fabric
It should be the same length as the page and 2 cm wider than the outline.
Step 5. Coat one side of the fabric with glue
Use a lot of glue but don't let it drip. Glue the cloth to the book frame. Pull hard. Press with a ruler to remove air bubbles.
Place books between sheets of wax paper and under one or two heavy books. Allow the glue to dry. Leave it for about 20 minutes
Step 6. Glue the cardboard sheet for the cover to the first and last pages
Before you do this, make sure the glue in the cloth is dry.
Step 7. Cut one more piece of fabric
It should be as long as the cardboard cover and 2 cm wider than the fabric on which the pages of the first book were glued.
Again, place the book between the wax paper and the heavy book. Wait for it to dry
Step 8. Once dry, cut a piece of decorative paper
It must be 5 cm wider than the two covers plus the outline of the book, and 5 cm longer than the cover.
Step 9. Make folds on the decorative paper 2.5 cm from the top and 2.5 cm from the bottom
Make four incisions on the paper to make room for the spine to fold and discard the rest.
- Cut the paper so that the outline of the book is closed but there is no paper directly above or below it. You should now have four folds of paper - two above and two below the book.
- Fold the fold inward and glue it to the cardboard cover.
Step 10. Cut two sheets of paper
It must be 0.6 cm shorter than the cover width and 1.25 cm shorter than the cover length. Glue to the inside of the cover so that it covers what is not covered by the cardboard cover and closes to the spine.
Once everything is dry, decorate to your liking
Method 2 of 2: Japanese-style books
Step 1. Prepare your equipment
All materials for this handicraft can be purchased at bookstores and the price is no more than several tens of thousands of rupiah. Clean the kitchen counter and prepare the following ingredients:
- Blank paper (30-100 sheets, depending on the thickness of your book)
- 2 sheets of cardboard
- 2 sheets of beautiful decorative paper (2 kinds)
- Ribbon - several tens of cm, width 6 mm
- Paper hole puncher
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Ruler
- paper clip
Step 2. Lay down your blank paper
Depending on what type of book you're making, you can use thinner or thicker paper; You also need to consider how many sheets. For a photo album, about 30 sheets. For journals or diaries, 50 sheets or more.
Step 3. Take the scissors
Cut out two pieces of cardboard that match the size of your blank paper. There are no separate rules about the size of the cover. But if it's too heavy to lift, you may be making it too big.
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Draw two vertical lines on one of the cardboard 2.5 cm from the left edge, draw the first line from top to bottom. The second line is 3.5 cm from the left edge and parallel to the first. Do the same with the other cardboard.
These lines are close to each other. This line separates the binding from the body of the book, forming a hinge
Step 4. Cut along the lines you drew
So the cut 1.25 cm between the two lines earlier. Discard the excess cardboard. Now you have two pieces of cardboard, which are 2.5 cm wide.
Craft knives are easier to use than scissors. If you have one, just use a knife
Step 5. Create the outer cover
Take beautiful decorative paper for the inside and outside of the cover, and cut it to size. The size of each paper must be 4 cm longer and 4 cm wider than the blank page. If your blank paper is 20 by 25 cm, cut your decorative paper 24 by 29 cm.
Place one of the decorative papers face down. You should see a blank paper now. Draw with a pencil a 2 cm line from the edge of the paper to the circumference of the paper
Step 6. Glue the cardboard on the decorative paper
Align it with the line you drew in the previous step. Make sure you apply glue all over the surface, not just the edges. Use stick glue to keep it from falling apart.
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The cardboard will be the back cover. The 1.25cm gap on the cardboard you cut earlier will be the "hinge" that makes the book easy to open and close.
Apply glue to the paper if you're using wrapping paper (or thinner pretty decorative paper). This will prevent the paper from shriveling and corrugation and will give the paper time to absorb moisture from the glue before it is glued to the cardboard
- Repeat for the front cover. Make sure the paper pattern is facing the right direction!
Step 7. Fold inward
With the cardboard in the center of the paper, fold it into the corner as far as it will go. Glue them together, creating small triangles of decorative paper at the corners of your cardboard.
- When the corners are folded, start to the sides. Folding the corners produces a sleek, geometric fold. Like wrapping gifts.
- Do the above steps on both sides and glue them all together. There should be a gap of 1 cm between the two pieces of cardboard.
Step 8. Start with the inner cover
Cut two sheets of decorative paper that are 1 cm smaller than the page paper. If your page is 20 by 24 cm, cut the paper in the cover 19 by 23 cm.
Step 9. Punch two holes in the fastener
Depending on the materials you use, this step can be very easy or very difficult. It should be about 4 cm from the edge of the cover.
- If you don't have a hole punch (and it's better if you have a one-hole punch), you can use a drill. But before you drill into your table, use a base like a phone book. If you are using a drill, place the inside of the cover on the outside so that the rough edges are inside.
- Use clips to hold all covers and pages together.
Step 10. Insert the ribbon into the hole using the Japanese bookbinding method
The ribbon must be six times longer than the book's height. If your book is 15 cm, your ribbon should be 90 cm long. After this you are done!
- Insert the end of the tape down through the top hole. Leave a few cm on the right for the ribbon knot.
- Insert the same end down through the same hole again.
- Sew the end down through the bottom hole.
- Sew the same end down through the bottom hole again.
- Tie under and down through the bottom hole one more time.
- Pull the same end through the top hole. The cross stitch pattern above forms the spine of the book.
- Tie it over the top of the book and tie the other end with a knot. The knot should fall at the top of the hole.
- Make a ribbon knot.
Tips
- Measure accurately.
- If you're keeping a diary, you can tie ribbon or string around the front cover to hold paper and/or pictures.
- You can use old cardboard and other wood materials for the front and back covers. Join books with loose-leaf fixing washers, hinges or nuts and bolts.
